


How Everything Changed

by Harlequin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Hermione Granger Bashing, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, James Potter Bashing, Lily Evans Potter Bashing, Molly Weasley Bashing, Multi, Ron Weasley Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:27:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25896697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harlequin/pseuds/Harlequin
Summary: When Severus's grandfather enters his life, his entire life changes. Welcome to the life of Severus Prince and see how his family changes the wizarding world.I do NOT own anything. The universe and characters of Harry Potter are owned by J.K. Rowling.I just wrote this because I was bored at home, love Harry Potter and decided I might as well share it.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Original Female Character(s), Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 280





	1. The Start of Change

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I'm a Harry Potter fan who loves the characters and universe created by J.K. Rowling. This is the first time I've written a fanfic (though I do love reading them), so don't expect anything amazing. Its all just for fun.
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading it.

Severus didn't know what to do. Summer had started just a few weeks ago. But, this time he was all alone. Lily refused to speak with him. Months of apologizing and she still told him she never wanted to see him ever again. All he had left was his mother, a woman so broken that she could hardly speak. But, that wasn't what currently bothered him. It wasn't his drunk father who was currently passed out in the living room nor the empty beer bottles scattered around the house. His problem was the man in the hall.

It had to be a trick. Severus knew better than to believe in others. Their kindness was nothing but an act. However, this man insisted he was his grandfather. Lord Prince had apparently had a change of heart and wanted to reconcile with his daughter and meet his grandson. There was no denying that this man was a wizard. He so easily knocked Tobias out. Severus glanced at his father for a second time since he was knocked out. The man wouldn't be waking up for a while. And he was honestly thankful that lord Prince had shown up when he did. His father had been on another drunken rampage. He was about to hit Severus and his mother with empty beer bottles when lord Prince burst through the door.

Severus needed a few minutes to regain his composure. But, now that he looked at the man, he could see the resemblance to his mother. And he wanted to believe lord Prince was here to save them. He wanted to believe his life might be turning around. Only, there was no way he could accept this so easily. Why now? What made this man rethink his position? And what about his mother? The second his mother laid eyes on this man she began to scream and throw bottles at him. Severus made out a few words. It was more than she had said in the past year. Though it didn't change the words being said and the anger that was expressed.

“Severus, I know you don't trust me. But I'm telling the truth. I want to help.” lord Tiberius Prince said when Severus returned to the hall.

After calming his mother, Severus had taken her into another room to rest.

“Why?”

“Because you're my family and I...”

Lord Prince paused at the skeptical look his grandson was giving him.

“You disowned my mother and suddenly you come back into our... Her life.”

After all that had happened, the shock and pain, Severus couldn't keep the pain from his voice.

“I never disowned your mother.”

That came as a shock. Severus was sure his mother had been disowned. No. This man was playing games with him.

“After all these years you return and dare to claim you care for us? I'm not a fool.”

“Severus please -”

“No! My mother has suffered. I have suffered. If you cared so much, why didn't you come here sooner? Do you finally feel guilty?”

“I was scared!”

Severus took a step back. He took a clearer look at his grandfather. The man was noticeably tired. His voice began to break as he continued to speak.

“I was a fool. My daughter, my only child, ran away from me. I was so angry at the time. But, when she was gone I finally saw my mistakes. I wanted to find her right away but after what I said... I didn't think she'd want to see me, let alone forgive me.”

Tears were falling down the man's face. Severus wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to yell and hurt the man. But, he was just so tired.

“Why did you come here?”

Lord Prince looked Severus in the eyes.

“To make amends.”

For a third time Severus glanced at his passed out father. He saw the useless man who had only ever beat him and his mother. This man had wasted everything they had, taking their money to spend on beer when they could hardly afford food.

“And what did you hope to accomplish coming here, besides making amends?” Severus asked.

Lord Prince suddenly looked very determined.

“I planned to protect you. I know asking for forgiveness won't fix things, but I can provide you with money and status and... I wanted to give you the Prince heir ring.”

The last line left Severus shocked.

“I would give it to your mother but... Her condition doesn't seem to be...”

“She's currently in poor health.” Severus said.

Lord Prince nodded.

Severus thought. This was a chance to change things. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. He took a few steps forward, shortening the distance between himself and lord Prince.

“Then let's go to Gringotts.” Severus said. “If what you say is true, then we have to talk. But, we must first get my mother to a safe place. I refuse to leave her with that thing.”

Severus looked towards his father for a fourth time.

“Agreed.” lord Prince said.


	2. Gringotts Bank

After leaving his mother in the care of house elves at Prince Manor (which looked more like a palace), Severus and lord Prince arrived at Gringotts. They were quickly escorted to lord Prince's account manager Rognok. Lord Prince quickly explained what was going on. Then he and Rognok turned to Severus.

“What do you want to talk about?” lord Prince asked.

“My mother's marriage.”

Lord Prince took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever Severus had to say.

“Is there a way to break her marriage? I doubt mother would divorce Tobias on her own... No, I know she won't no matter how necessary it is.”

Rognok began asking questions. Severus answered them as best he could. The process was slow. A lot of it was about his father's treatment of him and his mother. It was in no way a comfortable topic. Lord Prince had to step out a few times to cool his head. He had felt a strong urge to kill the man for what he had done to his daughter and grandson. But, they were able to get through it. By the time Severus finished there was a short silence. Then Rognok began to speak.

“Your mother isn't in her right mind.”

Severus took great offence to his words, no matter how true they were. Lord Prince held him back. After a moment Rognok spoke.

“May I take your memories? And could I get you to write a testimony on truth parchment, both of you?”

“Why?” Severus asked.

“I believe we can break this marriage on grounds of your father's crimes against you and your lady mother. As she isn't in her right mind, the guardianship over you and her would go to lord Prince who could call for an end to the marriage.”

Rognok had sheets of truth parchment brought to them. Severus found the parchment soaked in truth serum interesting.

“With this your mother's marriage can be broken and your father can be sent to prison.”

Suddenly Rognok had a smile on his face.

“Perhaps you'd agree to having the goblin court take care of it for you.”

Severus wasn't sure why they'd do this for them, but lord Prince had a thought.

“And what do you want in return?”

“Besides the usual fee,” Rognok said, “nothing. Children are precious and anyone who dared to hurt a child deserves to be punished.”

It would end up a quick trial, with Tobias found guilty and serving in the goblin mines before spending the rest of his life in a muggle prison.

“Is there anything else?” lord Prince asked Severus.

“My and my mother's names. I want to go by the Prince name from now on and I want to change my middle name.”

“Easily done.” lord Prince said.

Rognok brought out the necessary tools for the name change. There was only one thing Severus needed to do for his own name to be changed.

“Write your new name on the parchment to change it.” Rognok said, sliding a parchment and quill towards Severus.

Severus Tiberius Prince

Lord Prince looked at the name Severus chose and felt a spark of warmth in his chest.

“Don't take this as forgiveness.” Severus said in a quiet voice. “I simply think its right to take your name as I'm your heir.”

“Of course.” lord Prince said. “I'm just honored that you've chosen it.”

“Yes, well I'd rather live as a Prince than die as a Snape.”

The wording only reminded lord Prince of what he had just heard of his grandson's home life with that muggle brute. He felt his anger rising, but pushed it down. The brute would be punished.

“I recommend taking an inheritance test to ensure everything is complete.” Rognok said.

Severus agreed and soon was staring at something he hadn't expected.

Severus Tiberius Prince

Mother: Eileen Vesper Prince (Witch – Pure-blood)  
Father: Tobias Snape (Muggle)

Titles:  
Heir Prince – maternal line  
Heir Peverell – maternal line

“How am I heir Peverell?” he asked Rognok.

Rognok searched through a few records and quickly returned with an answer.

“It seems your lady grandmother, lady Vesper Prince, was a descendant from the eldest of the Peverell brothers. The lordship has been left unclaimed for centuries and... In recent years the Potter family has made use of the vaults despite not being able to claim the lordship themselves. In fact, they shouldn't have been able to take anything from the vaults to begin with and...”

Rognok called upon a few other goblins and they had their own private meeting.

“Please forgive us heir Peverell, for we've made a grave mistake. The Potters shouldn't have had any access to the Peverell vaults and instead you should've been told of them from the moment you turned eleven. We sincerely apologize.”

Severus accepted their apology and then asked what they could do.

“You can claim the lordship and have the Potters return all that they have stolen from the vaults. Also, seeing as the Potters have stolen from you, you have a right to disown them from the Peverell family.”

Severus got a wide smile on his face.

“I could cut the Potters out of the line?”

“Yes.” Rognok said. “Disown them, leaving them without the Peverell blood and magics.”

“Why does that make you so happy?” lord Prince asked.

Severus then told him about all that had happened between him and James Potter. All the pranks, the trips to the hospital wing and the bullying. Lord Prince was ready to start a feud with the Potters over how their son had treated his grandson, same with the Blacks. Severus talked him out of it. According to Rognok, the theft from the Peverell vaults was more than enough to sever the Potters from the Peverell line. James's actions only gave him even more reason. And, though he hated Sirius, Severus won't deny that Regulus and Narcissa have both been kind to him and didn't deserve to suffer for Sirius's actions.

“Alright.” Severus said. “I want to disown the Potters from the Peverell line and then merge the Peverell lordship with the Prince lordship. I'm sure my grandfather wouldn't mind the addition to the Prince family vaults and seats.”

Rognok began the process. Tiberius watched as Severus called upon magic to remove the Potters from the Peverell line. And while Severus would never like James Potter (that he was sure of), he wasn't going to call for them to be punished. Them loosing the Peverell vaults was punishment enough. All the Potters had left was the money they themselves had earned (which was more than enough to live comfortably) and James's trust vault.

In the end Severus accepted the Prince heir ring and left Gringotts happily. He was also quite pleased to discover a certain invisibility cloak among the Peverell vaults. It explained a lot about some of the pranks Potter had pulled on him. Though now there was no need to worry about Potter.


	3. The Potters Find Out and Severus's True Friends

Fleamont Potter felt the change instantly. In his old age he knew what had happened and quickly dragged both his wife and sons (as they had recently taken in Sirius) from their cottage in Godric's Hollow all the way to Gringotts.

Fleamont went up to the nearest goblin and said, “I must see my account manager.”

“Where's my account manager?” Fleamont asked as a goblin he didn't know entered the room.

“Your former account manager was found to have mishandled accounts and has been released from his position. I'm Ullor. I'll be your new account manager.”

Fleamont didn't like the sound of that. Beside him James was grumbling about being dragged to the stuffy bank and Sirius was doing exactly the same.

“I felt a change to the Potter magics. I require an inheritance test for myself and my son.”

“Of course Mr. Potter.”

Fleamont Potter

Mother: Bertha Potter (Witch – Pure-blood)  
Father: Henry Potter (Wizard – Pure-Blood)

Titles: NULL

James Fleamont Potter

Mother: Euphemia Potter (Witch – Pure-blood)  
Father: Fleamont Potter (Wizard – Pure-Blood)

Titles: NULL

“Where's the Peverell title? What happened to it?”

Ullor looked over the Potter tests.

“Ah yes, that was one of the things your former account manager mishandled. The Peverell vaults were never yours to access. Recently the true lord has claimed the lordship and taken back all their assets.”

“But – But why did I feel us being disowned from the Peverell family?”

This got James's attention as he finally looked at the inheritance tests and saw the loss.

“You taking from the Peverell vaults was a crime. That, among other reasons, led the new lord Peverell to disown the Potters from the line entirely.”

“But they can't do that!” James yelled.

“Yes, they can.” Ullor said in an angered tone. “Be grateful they didn't take all your money as payment for your thefts and that they didn't call for you to be punished. They didn't have to leave you a trust vault for your school funds or the money your parents earned through their hard work.”

Before James could say anything else, his mother shushed him.

“Can we at least know who the new lord Peverell is?” Fleamont asked.

Ullor shuffled through a few documents before answering.

“The Peverell lord has allowed limited information to be disclosed. They are a member of the Prince family, the recently found heir, who has merged the Peverell lordship with the Prince lordship.”

Seeing that James was about to explode at the goblin, Fleamont quickly ended the meeting. While James complained about how their fortune had been stolen, Fleamont was only grateful that they hadn't been left with nothing. He knew he needed to explain things to James who didn't seem to realize how lucky they had been. Their former account manager had apparently given them access to the Peverell vaults in hopes of being the one to manage that large account. That goblin's schemes could've cost him everything and only because the new lord was kind did they not end up on the streets. Fleamont hoped he could get James to understand. Though he knew it must've been hard on his son. Surely things would be better after they readjusted to not having Peverell blood and magics.

As the summer went on Severus learned about being heir Prince. His grandfather taught him the family history and magics. He wouldn't say they were close yet. But, he could at least appreciate the man's intellect. The real trouble was his mother. She had woken up in her childhood home and gone on the warpath. It had taken several house elves holding her down and spelling a calming draught into her for her to finally calm down. Severus went to see her right away. She looked much better than before. But, when she found out what he did, she screamed about betrayal. Severus could only feel hurt at all the words she said.

“Are you okay?” his grandfather asked when he found him outside his mother's room.

“I'm fine.”

Tiberius walked over to his grandson. He knew they weren't very close. But, the least he could do was comfort him.

“Thank you.” Severus said after a few minutes.

Severus then moved away, walking to his own room. It was much larger then his room at Spinner's End. There was a four-poster bed with silk sheets in a midnight blue color, a large oak desk placed beneath a window to the left and a wardrobe full of new clothes that properly fit him on the right. There was also a fireplace on the right with two wingback chairs in front of it. Severus walked into the room and fell onto his bed.

The next day he met up with his friends from Slytherin house; Regulus, Lucius and Narcissa. He had wanted to meet them and tell them of his good fortune. But, before he was told something by his grandfather that made him worry.

“Hearing about your friends, I just want to warn you of those who might try to take advantage of you. I'm not saying everyone is like that but that Evans girl...” Tiberius chose his next words carefully. “From what you've told me I fear she was using you. That's why she broke your friendship so easily after one insult.”

Severus was ready to fight him about it. Lily wasn't like that. But, Severus had to face the facts. He was actually forced to as his grandfather insisted on having him see a mind healer. And Severus, though he didn't want to believe it, had had his rose colored glasses shattered. Lily wasn't as good a friend to him as he had thought. She wasn't an angel. She was a person and like everyone else she had flaws. But, now he worried. What of his other friends? Despite what others believed, he wasn't friends with Avery and Mulciber. He simply had to be nice to them because they shared a dorm. The people in Slytherin that he thought of as friends were Regulus who was a year below him, Narcissa who was a year above him and Lucius who had just graduated.

“You're looking good Severus.” Narcissa said.

All three of his friends looked at him. They had instantly noticed the changes to his appearance. His clothes were new and fit well, his hair didn't look greasy but silky, his nose seems to have shrunk and he didn't look nearly as underfed as he had before. Despite this, all of them knew something was bothering him. Why else would he ask to meet at a café in Occasion Alley?

“I wanted to meet you all to tell you about my grandfather.”

Lucius paused. Narcissa set down her tea. Regulus forgot about the tea entirely.

“You're grandfather?” Lucius asked.

“Lord Prince.” Severus clarified.

He then told his friends about how he'd met lord Prince. All three of them smiled.

“Congratulations Severus.” Lucius said.

“So you're out of that house for good?” Narcissa asked.

“And you're mother's getting help?” Regulus added.

Severus felt slightly overwhelmed by his friends joy for him. All of them asked about his and his mother's well being. And that's what made him the happiest. None of them batted a single eye at his knew status and wealth.

“I still haven't told you the best part.” Severus said.

He told them about the Peverell lordship. His friends laughed with him, happy James Potter would finally be punished. Regulus even said that Sirius would also be punished as he was disowned and now lived with the Potters. And Severus felt happy knowing who his true friends were.


	4. First Day of Sixth Year

Everyone at Hogwarts, aside from Narcissa and Regulus, were surprised when they saw the new Severus Snape. Gone was the greasy haired victim of the marauders. In his place came Severus Prince, wealthy heir who now looked positively stunning.

Over the summer Severus had put on some weight, meaning he was no longer skin and bones. A proper diet and sleep had begun to fix his health issues, though he still had to take nutrient potions with every meal for a few more months. With proper supplies he was able to deal with his hair and now it was silky. His grandfather had also taught him a spell created by his great-great-great grandmother to stop potions fumes from affecting the hair. Now it wouldn't get greasy after brewing. His grandfather had also taken him to get a full check up from the goblins. It was meant to be used as evidence in his father's trial. Though when they discovered the improperly healed bones, Severus had gone through the process of getting them broken and healed again. It meant his nose had been fixed. Now it wasn't hawk like and didn't take up most of his face. It allowed people to see his naturally high cheekbones and his large eyes instead.

Out of everyone the most shocked were Lily Evans, the marauders (mainly James and Sirius) and Albus Dumbledore. Lily didn't know what had happened to Severus after he stopped coming to apologize to her. She hadn't seen him all summer and had actually begun to date James Potter. Seeing Severus the way he was now made her furious. How was she to know he'd become exactly what she wanted after she cut off their friendship? No matter. She was sure he'd come crawling back to her if she offered her friendship once more.

“Sev!” Lily called out as everyone left the great hall.

Severus didn't stop. Lily was surprised. She called out his name again, which began to attract everyone's attention. More eyes fell on her as she pushed through the crowd and took hold of Severus's arm. He was pulled back. Severus looked at her, displeasure clear on his face.

“Why didn't you stop when I called out to you?” Lily asked.

She had an innocent expression on her face. Truthfully, Severus had wanted to stop for a brief moment. But, he knew it wasn't worth it. Severus would've usually been displeased with so many people staring at him, but now was the time to get closure.

“Miss Evans, I recall you telling me quite clearly,” Severus said in a louder than normal tone, “that you never wanted to see me again.”

Lily let out a laugh. “Silly Sev, I've forgiven you.”

Lily waited for Severus to smile and be happy to have his only friend back. Instead she saw Severus staring at her with a blank expression.

“You've forgiven me? After yelling in front of everyone at Gryffindor tower that I was a slimy snake and that you would never associate yourself with me again?”

Anyone who wasn't in Gryffindor turned to the students in red and gold to get the details. They all confirmed that what Severus said was true.

“I was angry at the time Sev...” Lily said.

“Like how I was angry when Potter filled my mouth with soap, hung me upside down and threatened to remove my clothes in front of the entire school because I exist?”

Severus kept an even tone and a blank face. Lily was about to reply when Severus continued to speak, not allowing her to try and make excuses.

“I was angry then Miss Evans and I took it out on you by insulting you. I spent months standing outside of Gryffindor tower, risking confrontation with Potter and his gang and further embarrassing myself to apologize to you. Even after you insulted me back, commenting on my poor state of clothes despite knowing how poor my family was at the time and even calling me by the awful name that Potter created.”

“Sev I -”

“Why now?” Severus asked. “Why are you forgiving me now when you refused to before?”

“I thought about it and realized I missed you.”

“Really?” Severus said. “Is that why you started to date the person who bullied me for the past five years?”

Lily looked shocked. So did everyone around them. And there was nothing Lily could do. Everyone knew because of James Potter's bragging, telling anyone and everyone on the train, that she was finally dating him. Lily noticed just how many eyes were on them. Desperately she spoke up.

“I tried to tell you at the beginning of summer, but you had moved away.”

“That's strange. I didn't move away until the middle of July, two and a half weeks after summer had begun.”

“Well I-I...”

Lily wasn't sure what to do next. But, no matter what she decided, it was too late. Severus had no intentions of letting her speak again.

“Now let me tell you what I think. I think you're only 'forgiving' me because I'm no longer the poor boy from Spinner's End, but a wealthy heir.”

Lily wanted to protest, but couldn't find a moment to interrupt.

“No matter what I did as Severus Snape you didn't want my friendship. I was hurt, but did as you asked by not seeing you again. The fact that you're only forgiving me now that I'm Severus Prince is just insulting. And I'd appreciate it if you no longer called me Sev. I find it far too personal for someone I'm not friends with.”

Severus turned and walked away with Regulus and Narcissa. They heard whispers from the crowd that weren't in favor of Lily Evans.

Lily was shocked. In that moment all her anger rose and she exploded, speaking before she could even think about what she was saying.

“You're just a nobody! You're nothing without me! I'm what made you good and if it wasn't for me spending my time with you you'd be alone!”

Severus didn't respond. The damage had been done and Lily was only making herself look worse. Oh how sweet it felt to be free of her clutches. It was like the chains had been broken and Severus wasn't being look down on. No longer was Lily above him. Now they were on equal ground and Severus was enjoying every second of it.


	5. Confrontations

Tiberius Prince had taken over on the board of education after lord Malfoy left. With Lucius no longer a Hogwarts student, lord Malfoy had no place on the board. But, he was happy to help lord Prince get in after finding his grandson and heir. It wasn't hard to convince the board as lord Prince presented them with memories Severus had provided. Many were wondering how Dumbledore could allow bullying in Hogwarts. They were only further vexed when lord Prince let it slip that there were supposed to be anti-bullying wards in place. Now everyone was curious about the wards and quite a few things were soon to be uncovered. Sadly for Dumbledore, his followers on the board couldn't warn him before the emergency meeting was called.

“Why has a meeting been called so suddenly?” Dumbledore asked.

His eyes fell upon Tiberius. After finding out about what happened to the Potters, Dumbledore had been displeased with lord Prince. But, he was sure he could fix things if he found the man's heir. It was bad luck that his heir happened to be Severus.

“A lot of concerns have been presented to the board.” lady Augusta Longbottom said. “We have found out that the Hogwarts wards are a mess, you've allowed bullying in your school and sending abused children back to their homes... What kind of school are you running?”

The anger in lady Longbottom's voice reminded everyone why she was nicknamed dragon lady Longbottom. Dumbledore didn't like that she was starting things off. He had hoped it'd be lord Prince or one of the other Slytherin members of the board. Now he couldn't make claims against them as it was a Gryffindor to lay everything before him.

“I'm sure this is all just a slight misunderstanding.”

“It isn't.” lady Longbottom said.

She pulled out a large stack of papers and files.

“These are only a few examples of students who have suffered bullying and medical records that people have given us permission to show. There are clear problems in this school.”

“Now Augusta, I'm sure its all exaggerated.”

“So you believe your professional medi-witch and the goblins have lied to us?”

Tiberius was pleased to see Dumbledore looking like he had swallowed a lemon. He had been sure to have the goblins verify things just so that Dumbledore couldn't claim that it was all a misunderstanding.

Dumbledore looked to his two followers on the board. Sturgis Podmore and Caradoc Dearborn both looked pale. They tried to silently apologize to Albus for not getting a warning to him. Albus looked back to the board and tried to find a way around what was happening. Before he could speak, lady Longbottom said something that angered him even more.

“Due to these discoveries the goblins have begun an inquiry into Hogwarts. They've discovered many classes that were removed without reason and tampering with the accounts. And come Yule, they will be arriving to fix the wards in full. For now they're going to add a few to ensure that the students are properly protected.”

Dumbledore tried to get them to reconsider but it had been done. He looked to Podmore and Dearborn. It seemed he'd have to speak with them. But, that would be later. Now he had to catch lord Prince before he left. Dumbledore called out to him.

“Lord Prince, may I have a word.”

Tiberius paused. “Sadly I don't have much time Dumbledore.”

“Surely you could spare a few minutes.”

“Not currently.” lord Prince said. “I have a rather important matter to attend to.”

Lord Prince was about to walk away when he suddenly thought of something.

“And Dumbledore,” he said loud enough to attract everyone's attention, “you will later receive a letter from Gringotts. I have asked them to inform you about rules I've put into place. My heir is not to be called to your office without me. So do know that I must be present if, for whatever reason, you call my heir to your office.”

Tiberius turned and left. Dumbledore quickly left the room. He met Podmore and Dearborn outside the meeting room. Both told him the same thing: there wasn't time to inform him. Dumbledore put on his kind grandfather mask and told them he simply would've appreciated a little warning. He then made his way to his office, the twinkle lost from his eyes. The second he was alone he destroyed the first thing he could with a quick spell.

Years of hard work wasted. All that time spent creating a new dark lord and now his plan was starting to fall apart. He had to pull himself together and remind himself not all was lost. But, there was a lot going on. The school was suddenly under scrutiny and he didn't like it. He couldn't have anyone finding out about his disabling of the anti-bullying wards and the funneling of funds towards personal accounts. It wouldn't be good if it went to the wizengamot. With the Potters being cut from the Peverell family, he had lost access to powerful seats. All that pandering to the Potter boy was now for nothing. The same could be said for the former Black heir who was now a Potter as well. Dumbledore looked at his chessboard. He only had one seat on the wizengamot, the headmaster seat, which wasn't enough to put him in full power. All he had to sway the votes was his fame from defeating the previous dark lord and that was fading. He thought he could salvage things. But, it turned out a student he hadn't cared about was who caused all his problems. He didn't need any warning from lord Prince. Even if he did call Severus up to his office, the boy was sure to disobey him. There was no trust between them. So now what? Thinking quickly, Dumbledore began to adjust his plans.

James Potter found Severus surrounded by not just Slytherins, but Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and even a few Gryffindors. The slimy git must've been using his stolen fortune to buy himself friends. If only James Potter knew the truth.

“Snivellus!” he yelled.

Severus knew something like this would happen. Only this time it wouldn't be the same. James didn't known that he and the marauders had walked in on a support group for bullied students.

“Leave him alone Potter!” one of the Ravenclaws yelled.

James was surprised. “Turning people dark now Snivellus?”

“We can't have that.” Sirius said as he walked to James's side.

The two Gryffindors pulled out their wands to hex Severus when professor Flitwick walked into the room and disarmed them both.

“Twenty points from Gryffindor each, for attacking the victims of bullying support group and detention with Filch every night for a week.” Then turning to Lupin he said, “As a prefect you should be stopping this sort of behavior, not encouraging it.”

Lupin had the decency to look ashamed. He and the rest of the marauders were escorted out of the room. Severus only watched, smiling as Flitwick began a lecture about attacking people.

The support group had been a good idea and one that only worked because of Regulus and Narcissa pushing Severus to start it. They, along with Lucius, had encouraged him to take this chance as Dumbledore's crimes were starting to be uncovered. The timing was just too good to waste. And not only was it good for Severus and the other bully victims, but the Slytherins in general.

Having the Slytherins start this support group was the first step to show they weren't all evil people just waiting to join the dark lord's ranks. It was one of the many misconceptions people had about them. Truthfully, most Slytherins were scared. The dark lord pandered to them as the house of tradition, to stand up for wizarding rights and magical culture. But, the stories of attacks on muggles and muggle-borns were terrifying. If they could, the Slytherin students would stay out of it. They weren't cold, heartless killers, but they didn't feel welcome among what was supposed to be the good side of the war. Too many people looked at them with suspicion. They could tell that they'd be stabbed in the back the second it was convenient for the 'light' side.

With certain alliances forming, the Slytherins were given a chance to change their fate. And all of it began with a conversation between lord Prince and lord Black.


	6. A Shift in Power

Lord Prince had just arrived home after a successful wizengamot meeting. His alliance had been able to convince the wizengamot to pass their new creatures rights bill, the first step in improving the current creature situation. Though he was surprised to see Dumbledore of all people was against it. It was concerning, but not too much of a problem. The current Rita Skeeter had been having a field day. Dumbledore's mismanagement of Hogwarts had left a lot of people mad at him. It wasn't enough to remove him from the Headmaster's position. But, at least his other titles had been taken away. Though that had been a hard fought battle. Sitting down by the fireplace, lord Prince picked up his cup of tea and thought back to the summer and his meeting with lord Black.

Less than twenty-four hours had passed since Severus had met with his friends in Occasion Alley. Lord Prince had been in his office, going over some standard paperwork when the floo flared up.

“Arcturus. What an unexpected surprise.”

“I must speak with you in person. May I step through?”

Seconds later lord Black was standing in lord Prince's office. A house elf brought them tea. Lord Black ignored it, instantly bowing before lord Prince.

“I deeply apologize for my former heir's actions against your heir.”

Lord Prince was surprised. He asked lord Black to sit down. Then lord Black proceeded to tell him of how he'd been visiting his grandson and new heir Regulus. He'd overheard Regulus mumbling about the dark lord. When Regulus realized he was caught speaking against the dark lord he had looked frightened. Lord Black wasn't sure why. He had Regulus tell him the truth, leading him to visit lord Prince and apologize.

“Tiberius, I really don't know what to say. But, I'd like to make it up to you and your kin for all that Sirius has done.”

“Thank you Arcturus, but you've already disowned the boy and stripped him of his family name and magics. I don't see what else you could do.”

“Well, I did have something in mind.”

Lord Prince quirked an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure what lord Black wanted from him. He knew it had nothing to do with promoting the dark lord. Despite what many believed, lord Black wasn't a pure-blood supremacist. He didn't like muggle-borns overly much, but that was because of how rude they were and the disrespect they showed towards wizarding traditions. Though that was explained by the missing wizarding culture class at Hogwarts.

“I've recently pruned my family tree.” lord Black began. “Walburga has been cast out along with Orion, Cygnus, Druella and Bellatrix. Aside from a few distant relatives, what's left of my family are my grandson Regulus and granddaughter Narcissa. Both have expressed fear of the dark lord and I was hoping to get your help as they told me your grandson also dislike's the dark lord.”

Lord Prince didn't speak. He needed a moment to understand what he'd just heard.

“You've cast them out as in you've magically disowned them? All of them?”

Lord Black nodded. “Its a lot, I know.”

“Including Sirius and Andromeda, that's seven people. For one family to disown so many members in such a short amount of time, it hasn't happened in centuries... A scandal like this will end up all over the paper.” lord Prince said.

“I've already dealt with that.” lord Black said. “That's why I need your help. The article that'll come out will state my position against the dark lord. While the Black name holds a lot of power, it won't be enough. I'm hoping to form an alliance to stand against the dark lord.”

“So you've come to me.”

Lord Black nodded. “I'm also hoping to gain Abraxas's help as well seeing as his son is in a courtship with my granddaughter.”

Lord Prince needed a moment to think. He wasn't sure about lord Malfoy. The man was hard to read and seemed to stand with the dark lord. But, his son was against the dark lord if what Severus had told him was true. And if it was both the Black and Prince families, then the current lord Malfoy would be more inclined to join them.

“What do you have in mind?” lord Prince asked.

Lord Black smiled and told him of how they could remove the dark lord's power and why they would need lord Malfoy.

Dumbledore wasn't pleased with the new Prince, Black and Malfoy alliance. Those three families combined led to changes in the wizengamot as lord Prince moved his seats from the neutral faction to the dark faction. With the Peverell seats added to the Prince seats, it meant that the dark faction now held majority. Abraxas Malfoy became the head of the wizengamot as majority leader.

Now Dumbledore didn't know about the alliance. He just knew that with the Black family scandal, everyone now knew of the family's position against the dark lord. Along with the Prince and Malfoy families standing with the Black family, many had turned away from Voldemort. And now they were doing everything in their power to stand against him. It meant that the Slytherins were now being viewed in a good light. Between the lords work in the wizengamot and Severus Prince starting a victim support group for bullied students, it was making everyone rethink their judgments of Slytherins. And it meant he'd lost power in both the wizengamot and at Hogwarts.

Instead of being praised for their pranks, James and Sirius were being ignored by the rest of their peers. The students begun standing together against the two Gryffindors, making it well known just how many people they had hurt. It lead to an entirely separate inquiry at Hogwarts. Lupin had lost his prefect's badge along with Lily. Both had been found to be favoring James and Sirius and ignoring their duties. And Dumbledore couldn't convince the board to return the badges to the two students. With this change, he had lost any hope of making Lily Evans and James Potter head boy and girl. His plans were continuing to crumble.


	7. Another Summer - A Look at the Potter and Evans Families

James and Sirius weren't used to living without money. They certainly weren't poor. Not in the slightest. But, without the Peverell and Black family vaults, they couldn't get all that they wanted. A new broom had been released that summer. James wanted it. So did Sirius. They were sure they could beat the slimy snakes at quidditch if they had the latest brooms. But, Mr. Potter told them no. James was sure he misheard and asked again. Mr. Potter said no again.

Fleamont had retired from work a year before being cut from the Peverell family. Before he could afford to buy James all he wanted. And he could now. But, he was trying to be careful with money. Without the Peverell vaults, their money would run out quickly. He'd already found a new job. It wasn't much. He worked in the auror office, doing a desk job organizing paperwork and such. It payed well enough and he was able to ensure his family was financially well off, if not as well as before. Except he wanted to save money so that James and Sirius could have a decent inheritance. But, he couldn't bring himself to say no to his sons. They gave him puppy eyes and complained about how hard life was. Fleamont couldn't help remembering how hard it was just to have James, his only child. And he also couldn't forget how alone Sirius was in the world before turning to them. So he gave in and bought them their new brooms. With the way they spent money, no one realized how the Potters weren't as wealthy as before.

“We're going to beat those snakes at quidditch and win the house cup.” James said to Sirius.

The two boys were busy racing in the yard. Fleamont watched them from the window. He was happy to see them happy, but something was bothering him. As he continued to watch he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his wife.

“Is something wrong dear?” Euphemia asked her husband.

“Nothing much Effie.”

Euphemia looked out at the boys racing in the yard.

“I thought you weren't going to buy them new brooms?”

Fleamont sighed. “Things have been hard on them. Us being cast out of the Peverell family and Sirius being disowned... I just want to see them happy.”

“I know and you've been working so hard. I'm sure the boys appreciate everything you do for them. I certainly do.”

Fleamont smiled at his wife. He and Euphemia left the window. While they enjoyed a simple cup of tea, the boys were outside, planning new ways to 'prank' the Slytherins.

James and Sirius hadn't been able to pull off a successful prank all year. Instead they were forced to watch as Snivellus enjoyed stolen popularity. Everyone began turning to him. They looked at him like he was some sort of hero. James was sure Snivellus had used some sort of dark magic to make everyone follow him.

“We'll get him this year.” James said to Sirius.

Meanwhile, at the Evans household, Lily was currently looking through her new clothes. She had convinced her parents that she needed all sorts of new things for the upcoming year. And it was all true in her mind. She was to become a lady. A lady had to be pretty and needed the best clothes.

“Stop looking at your clothes and get downstairs!”

Lily turned, seeing her horse-faced sister Petunia standing in front of her room. Petunia had been running around all day. Her boyfriend, some random middle class boy, was coming over. Lily hadn't met the boy yet, but was sure he had to be either stupid or blind to date her ugly sister.

“Lily!” Petunia screamed.

Lily made her way downstairs to see Petunia waiting for her.

“Vernon's going to be here soon...”

Petunia was going on about something, but Lily wasn't listening. After all, Petunia's boyfriend didn't matter. Lily screamed as Petunia pulled her pretty red hair.

“Pay attention!” Petunia said in a stern tone. “And none of that freakish stuff at dinner.”

It had been the most boring dinner of Lily's life. Petunia's boyfriend was some plump boy who talked about power tools and his sister's business of training and breeding dogs. He was ugly. So he was a perfect match for Petunia. And he kept talking about how he got a job offer at some drill company for after he graduated from college.

Lily was glad that she wouldn't have to keep attending these dinners. It had been the longest three hours of her life. Once she was married she'd be far too busy attending balls and important ministry functions. Lily knew a good marriage could get her what she wanted. She needed someone with a title and wealth. That's why Severus had to go. He was a dark, slimy Slytherin. He had been good for making her look like a kind, charitable angel, but also brought down her social standing. He was dead weight. What she needed was Potter. Wealthy, handsome and popular. He didn't have a title, but he bragged about being descended from the Peverell's, so she was sure he'd inherit the title.

Finding out Severus was the one to get the title made her scream. How dare he become what she wanted after she threw him away? And what was she supposed to do about Potter? She had started dating him as soon as she could. Now Severus wouldn't even talk to her. Lily had tried to find out about the Prince family and was furious to hear they lived in some sort of palace. It was just another reason that Severus should be with her. But, he'd been corrupted by those slimy snakes.

At one point Lily thought about breaking it off with Potter. It was tempting, but she couldn't unless she got herself a better match. And she knew no other boy in the wizarding world would be as smitten with her as James. At least he was handsome and wealthy. Lily started planning the perfect wedding. With the upcoming war she needed to become an angelic figure. She had to be a model for why everyone should get along. A muggle-born like her marrying a pure-blood like Potter would make a powerful statement. Dumbledore had told her of the fame and riches she'd get by marrying a hero of war. James was going to become an auror, building fame by fighting the death eaters and Lily would be his dutiful wife. Dumbledore promised her a future she desired and she'd get it. As Lily Potter she'd get everything she ever wanted.


	8. A New Hogwarts

Dumbledore was overcome with rage at all the new things at Hogwarts. The goblins had fixed the wards over Yule and then did a routine check during the summer. Everything from anti-bullying wards to solid defense wards had been added. The goblins had even taken the curse off the DADA position. Not that it would help with all the new staff. The board had demanded many changes. Now there were returning classes like wizarding culture, law and spell crafting. The curriculum was being redone, adding to what the students would learn. There were new books in the library, multiple professors for each course, a return of the apprenticeship program, a new marking scheme and a new points and punishment system. Even Hogsmeade weekends had been scheduled to happen every other week, meaning Dumbledore had no control over them.

For the Slytherins the year was going well. All their progress in the previous year had allowed them to better integrate with the rest of the houses. It wasn't Slytherins versus everyone else anymore. People were opening up and the houses were starting to become less and less competitive with each other, aside from quidditch games of course.

“Did you ever think you'd see Slytherins and Gryffindors getting along?” Regulus asked.

Severus looked around the library to see tables with students from different houses. The one Regulus was looking at had Slytherins and Gryffindors happily doing homework together.

“I'd lost hope.” Severus said. “Now eyes on your textbook. I won't be here to help you with potions next year so you'd better pay attention.”

“Yes professor Prince.”

Severus was helping Regulus study potions so that Regulus could qualify for the job he desired. He had been interested in the department of mysteries for a long time. Though they demanded a wide range of knowledge for whatever they did there.

“Sev.”

Severus and Regulus sighed, knowing who the voice belonged to. They didn't lift their eyes off their books even as Lily stood in front of their table.

“Sev, I was wondering if you could help me with my potions homework.”

“I already finished it Evans.”

Lily frowned. “But, you're studying potions right know.”

“No, I'm helping Regulus study.”

Severus was surprised Lily was still in N.E.W.T. potions classes. Without him there to help her she had struggled last year. She'd blown up more than a few cauldrons now that she was on her own.

“Please Sev.” Lily said, bending over.

Severus and Regulus noticed that the top buttons of her blouse were undone. Severus turned away, feeling uncomfortable with the display.

“Common room?” Regulus asked.

Severus nodded.

He and Regulus gathered their books and walked towards the exit. Lily was following behind them. Severus suddenly moved. He pulled Regulus in the same direction. Before Regulus could ask Severus smiled, promising that there was a point. They moved in a quick manner that only Severus could. When Lily tried to go after them she ended up tripping and knocking over the librarian Madame Pince. Lily ended up with a points loss for improperly wearing her uniform. Madame Pince kept Lily occupied for a solid five minutes, lecturing her about modesty.

“That was great.” Regulus said when they were out of the library.

“I just hope she'll leave me alone after -”

“Snivellus!”

Severus rolled his eyes. He and Regulus looked forward and saw the two Potters at the end of the hall. They looked more alike since Sirius had been adopted by the Potters.

“Don't ignore us you greasy git.”

Severus and Regulus had walked right passed them. They wondered if the Potters had gone blind. Severus hadn't had greasy looking hair since fifth year. And it hadn't been that bad before. It just always looked bad because he was constantly brewing potions. Severus was still thanking his great-great-great grandmother for inventing the hair protection spell.

“Snivellus!” James yelled.

It was clear that Snivellus wasn't going to turn around. So James and Sirius took out their wands. Just as they were about to hex the two Slytherins they were frozen. The new anti-bullying wards included the wonderful effect of freezing anyone attempting to attack someone else. All Severus had to do was watch while the nearest member of staff, being Madame Pince as they were still close to the library, came and dealt with them. Attempting to attack another student was an automatic points loss and detention.

Severus hoped that'd be the last interruption. Of course he was wrong. They had been in the common room for only ten minutes before Slughorn came in search of Severus.

“The headmaster would like to speak with you.”

Severus sighed. “Alright. Has my grandfather been called?”

The look on Slughorn's face told him that no one had contacted his grandfather.

“The headmaster simply wishes to speak with you.” Slughorn said. “He said it wasn't anything serious or...”

Severus glared at his head of house.

“Then I won't go. Dumbledore has been informed by both my grandfather and Gringotts that he isn't to speak with me unless my grandfather is there.”

Slughorn left with a sad look on his face. He knew better than to try and speak with Severus after Severus had turned down his every invitation to the Slug Club. It was after Severus declaring to the entire common room, which many students were in at the time, that he would never attend one of the meetings of such a reckless and discriminatory professor. The Slug Club had lost many of its members after that.

Of course, one failed attempt wasn't going to stop Dumbledore. Severus had left the great hall early. It was an early Saturday morning, meaning few students were around and Severus was alone in the hallway. That's when Dumbledore stepped out from around the corner.

“Severus, my boy.”

Severus kept walking.

“Severus, I'm speaking to you. Its rude to walk away from someone trying to speak with you.”

Severus stopped. He knew Dumbledore would only follow him.

“Is there something you wanted headmaster?”

He kept his tone even and his face blank as he turned around. Severus felt someone trying to enter his mind. He wasn't worried. If the Princes were known for anything it was potions and legilimency. That also meant he'd been trained in occlumency. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to gain anything with such weak legilimency.

“If you have nothing to say headmaster, I'll be on my way.”

“Actually Severus, I was hoping you could help tutor some students in potions.”

“I'm already booked for the year headmaster.”

“I'm sure you could find the time. You wouldn't want students to fail.”

“Of course not. And I wouldn't want you trying to force your way into my mind either.”

Dumbledore froze.

“As for those students, helping them is the professors job and what study groups are for. If that is all...”

Severus turned and walked away. He was given some peace after his talk with Dumbledore and hoped it would last till the end of the year.


	9. End of the Year

“You're staring at her again.” Severus said.

“I'm not.” Regulus replied.

He was. He'd been staring at Marlene McKinnon for three minutes. Severus could see his friend was smitten. Marlene was a seventh year Gryffindor. Severus remembered seeing her as part of Lily's friend group. Though the two didn't seem to spend much time together in recent months.

“If you're not going to focus, I'll leave.”

At the rate they were going, they would never be finished studying.

“I'm focused.” Regulus said.

His delayed response said otherwise. Severus sighed. He smiled at his friend. It was too bad he was awful when it came to relationships or he'd help him. If only Narcissa were there. Severus then got an idea. He pulled out a blank piece of parchment and began to write. The next day Regulus got a letter from his wonderful cousin Narcissa who was training to be a healer. He opened the letter and his eyes went wide. Regulus looked at Severus and practically dragged him out of the room.

“What did you do?”

“I'm helping you.” Severus said.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend and both of them were going to the village. And there they would be meeting Lucius and Narcissa.

“I won't go.” Regulus said.

“You don't have a choice.” Severus replied.

Eventually Regulus forgave Severus. It helped that Marlene had agreed to spend the day with him after Narcissa pulled Regulus into a conversation with her. Severus, Narcissa and Lucius watched as Regulus went with Marlene to the Three Broomsticks with goofy smile on his face.

“You know,” Narcissa suddenly said, “that just leaves you.”

Severus took a step back. He looked to Lucius for help.

“Don't worry Severus, you'll live.” was all Lucius said.

Severus spent the rest of his Hogsmeade weekend running away from Narcissa who was now set on finding him a partner.

The end of the year was surprisingly bittersweet for Severus. He thought back to his first year and his hope of a better future. Then he remembered being smacked by reality. He couldn't wait to be out of Hogwarts. But, over the last two years he was able to make some good memories and could honestly say he'd miss some things about the place.

And now he had many possibilities awaiting him. Before it looked like his only option would be the death eaters. It was such a depressing thought. There were still some Slytherins who had chosen to follow he-who-must-not-be-named; the Lestrange family, along with the Mulcibers, the Averys and the Carrows. But, it was an incredibly low number compared to what it had been a few years ago.

“Sev!”

And that was something he wouldn't miss, interruptions. Of all the times, Lily had to pick the moment he was reminiscing to be a nuisance. Severus got up from his seat in the library and began to walk away. He was pulled back as Lily latched onto his arm.

“Unhand me!”

“Sev, let's do something together. Its our last year after all and -”

“I said unhand me.”

Severus pulled his arm from Lily's grip.

“Sev. I was hoping to spend some time together, maybe take a walk around the lake and – hey, wait!” Lily yelled.

Madame Pince wasn't pleased and flew out from behind a bookshelf. The librarian took one look at Lily, her eyes instantly going to the uniform. Lily had been careful when entering the library. She had learned after multiple lectures from Madame Pince not to enter the library without being properly dressed. Though that didn't stop her from dressing as she pleased outside the library.

Severus took the opportunity given to him and ran out of the library, not slowing until he made it to the Slytherin common room.

“Everything alright Severus?” Regulus asked.

“I was just getting away from -”

“Evans?”

Severus nodded.

Now that he had some peace he tried to return to his thoughts. While laying on his bed he decided he couldn't get back that bittersweet feeling. So instead he chose to look to the future. With his excellent work in potions he was on his way to earning his mastery. He'd even gotten an apprenticeship. Though it wasn't with one of the potions professors. There was no way he was going to stay at the school for another year. Not with Dumbledore still in power. Instead he was going to work under Perenelle Flamel whom he had met while accompanying his grandfather on a business trip. He couldn't wait to begin his apprenticeship and already had many things completed for his potions mastery. The future looked to be a bright one.


	10. A Fated Meeting

Severus was frustrated. The last requirement for his mastery, creating a new potion, wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. He'd only been in Paris for a month. But that wasn't an excuse. He had hoped to make at least a little progress. Why did finding a cure for lycanthropy have to be so difficult?

“That's it.” Perenelle said. “You've been in here all weekend.”

Severus looked up from his notebook. He saw his mentor standing over him, looking rather displeased.

“At this rate you're going to die.” Perenelle said.

“That's quite the exaggeration.” Severus replied.

Perenelle didn't look any less displeased.

“Well it won't be for much longer. You're taking a break effective immediately.”

Severus found himself pushed out of the house.

“Go enjoy yourself for a bit.”

“But -”

“No excuses. You've been working non-stop since you've arrived. Its time to go out and enjoy the fresh air. I don't want to see you back for at least an hour.”

There was nothing he could do. Severus knew Perenelle would force him to rest one way or another. But, what was he supposed to do with an hour? Severus looked to see Perenelle standing in the window, watching him through the glass. She pointed down the street. Severus saw something was going on. There were bright lights and a big tent. With nothing better to do, he walked towards the events going on.

A circus. It was loud, bright and colorful. Severus wasn't liking it in the slightest. There were people running around and it was hard to move in the crowds. He was thinking of turning back when he bumped into something or someone. Severus fell back. He looked in font of him to see a girl with very long light honey blonde hair picking up her books. One of them was at his feet. He picked it up.

“I'm sorry for bumping into you.” Severus said.

“No, it was my fault.” the girl replied.

She looked up and Severus was met with pale blue eyes and fair skin with a rosy tinge.

“Here's your book...”

Severus looked at the cover and paused.

“You're reading Hayworth's theories?”

“So?” the girl said. “He's got wonderful ideas about potions and -”

“- the theory of intuition was misunderstood during its time.” they both said.

The girl looked surprised.

“I didn't think anyone else read his theories. You know most consider Hayworth's work to be the ravings of a senile man?” the girl said.

“Which is why so many overlook him.” Severus said.

The girl smiled. “Would you like to join me? I was heading to a café not far from here.”

Severus nodded. The two began to walk and soon found themselves at a quiet café.

“I'm Desiree.” the girl said.

“Severus.”

As they talked their topic shifted from potions to other parts of their lives. Desiree turned out to be a student at Beauxbatons. She was also looking to earn a potions mastery. Though she hadn't started on hers yet as she was entering her seventh year. Eventually they paused in their conversation. Desiree took a sip of her tea. While she looked to be enjoying the aroma, Severus couldn't help observing her. There was something off about her.

“Are you a veela?”

Desiree placed her cup back on the table.

“You noticed?”

“Between the long hair and ridiculous amount of charm I thought...”

Desiree smiled. “Not everyone can pick up on it so easily. Yes, I'm a pure veela.”

“But, you're a student at Beauxbatons. I didn't think -”

Severus stopped himself.

“I don't mean to offend, I just -”

“Come from the British Isles?”

“How?”

“The British Isles is the furthest behind in terms of creature rights.”

Eventually their conversation led to Severus's current dilemma. Desiree had explained about creature rights in France and that led them to discussing all sorts of creatures.

“So, I've been trying to find the cure for lycanthropy, but nothing has worked so far. Its as if there's no way to get rid of the wolf.”

“Isn't that your problem? That you're trying to get rid of the wolf.”

“How am I supposed to cure lycanthropy if I don't get rid of the wolf?”

“Who said the wolf had to be gotten rid of?”

And then there was a spark. Severus and Desiree continued to speak, building on a new theory that may be the key to curing lycanthropy. They spent so much time talking, Severus didn't notice the light was starting to dim. He looked out to the sky and saw it was nearing sunset.

“Oh no. I should've gone back hours ago.” Severus said.

“Me too.” Desiree replied. “Would you like to met again?”

Severus looked at her. It wouldn't be the last time the two of them met. They would end up working together on the cure for lycanthropy and both of them would be able to earn the potions mastery they each desired. Severus ended up gaining his at age nineteen, becoming the youngest potions master in five hundred years. Desiree would get hers at age twenty.

Though until then Severus returned to the Flamel residence where Perenelle was waiting with a smile on her face. She looked at her young apprentice with an all knowing smirk.

“Who's the girl?”

Severus blushed. He had to maneuver around his mentor's many questions, finally getting away when Nicholas entered the room in search of his wife. Nicholas watched Severus run away with the blush still bright on his face.

“Has something happened?” he asked his wife.

“Of course.”

Nicholas saw his wife's all knowing smirk.

“Well good for him.”

“She's quite the beautiful girl and...”

Perenelle saw her husband's pleading look. She decided to leave him be, knowing she could just continue the conversation in the morning. Severus would end up bringing Desiree over at Perenelle's insistence. He was just happy that Desiree enjoyed potions as much as he did. And he eventually found his patronus change to a peacock, matching Desiree's peahen.


	11. One of Many Order Meetings

Lily and James got married soon after graduating. It was a lavish wedding with a large number of guests. And the Potters had paid for it all. That night was just a taste of what Lily had desired. Only, that taste was all she was going to get.

“What do you mean we don't get more than two thousand and five hundred galleons?”

There was no way Lily could start spending until James's parents were gone. Fleamont and Euphemia had both died two years after their graduation. Dragon pox had swept through and the two elderly wizards didn't make it. The elderly couple had stayed side by side until death had come to take them. James cried when his parents passed. Fleamont had asked him, Sirius and Lily to live good lives. It was a hard loss. Many people came to the funeral. Fleamont and Euphemia had been quite well loved in their time. And their old friends had to come to say goodbye.

A week of mourning passed. It was the bare minimum wizarding families were expected to grieve for their dead. But, when time was up, the Potters went to Gringotts to find out what they had been left. Ullor looked at the three wizards looking at him as he brought out the will.

“This is what has been left to each of you.” the goblin said.

James and Lily looked down at what they'd been given. The cottage in Godric's Hollow had been left in James's name. Along with the cottage they got two thousand and five hundred galleons. That was it. Sirius had also been given two thousand and five hundred galleons. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Where's the rest of the money?” James asked.

Ullor rolled his eyes.

“It was spent.”

“How? There was so much before!” James said.

“Well Mr. Potter,” Ullor said, “your parents constantly bought you things and then there was that very expensive wedding they paid for. With all that spending this was all they saved.”

“But there has to be more!” James yelled.

Lily couldn't believe it. She was sure the Potters had more money than this. But, it wasn't true. All the money was gone. It was gone and there was no getting it back. Now what? How was she supposed to be a lady if she had no money? She couldn't attend social functions in plain clothes and sit at home in a cottage. There had to be a manor or something. But, there was nothing. James wasn't rich like she had thought. He had no title and no money.

“Mr. Potter.” Ullor said. “Your parents have left you a perfectly decent inheritance. That is all there is. You may either accept it or leave.”

James had no choice. He wasn't going to let the goblins take away what little money he had. It wasn't nearly enough, but there was nothing he could do. James knew where he had to go.

“Headmaster, what do we do?”

Dumbledore wasn't pleased with what he found out. In total all the Potters had was five thousand galleons. That wasn't enough to pay an army.

The war wasn't going as he had planned. Voldemort didn't have as much support as he expected, making his attempted take over slower and easier to resist. But, Voldemort did have financial support. The Lestrange fortune was at his disposal, along with having a few families on the wealthier side in his ranks. It was enough to pay an army and provide resources.

Looking to his own, Dumbledore saw just how little funds he had. He certainly couldn't ask the Weasleys for money. The Tonks family was an average one and none of the Hogwarts staff made enough to donate to the order.

“For now we keep an eye on the dark wizards.” Dumbledore said, answering James's question. “Remus, do you have any news on the werewolves?”

“Most of them have gone neutral. With a lycanthropy cure on the market and better creature laws, none of them are interested in the war. Only Greyback's pack chooses to follow you-know-who.”

Dumbledore didn't like the news. He saw Remus beaming. Ever since the lycanthropy cure went on the market, Remus and many other werewolves took it. Now they had control of the wolf and their transformations. They were only forced to transform during the full moon and there wasn't any pain or loss of their common sense. It was hard to keep Remus feeling indebted to him. Though Dumbledore was able to keep hold with a job offer. After Remus had earned his DADA mastery, he had qualified to be a DADA professor. It at least gave him a bit more power at Hogwarts.

“Andromeda.” Dumbledore said, turning to face her. “Have you heard anything from the Black family?”

“They refuse to speak with me. Its all that blood purity. They think that just because I married a muggle-born that I'm beneath them.”

Andromeda hadn't believed that her former parents, aunt, uncle and elder sister had all been disowned. They were all pure-blood supremacists. It was all an act so that no one would target them during the war. That had to be why they weren't responding to her.

“I see.” Dumbledore said.

He noticed certain people in the group, mainly professors Flitwick and Sprout, didn't seem to believe what Andromeda said.

“Alright. For now everyone may leave. Keep your eyes open and I'll call another order meeting soon. And Lily, may I have a word with you.” Dumbledore said. “I have a task I'm hoping you could complete for me.”

Dumbledore continued to rearrange his plans in his head, preparing for the next attack.


	12. An Important Discovery

Regulus was working as an unspeakable and enjoying his married life with Marlene. He had been having a normal day when Frank Longbottom entered the department. Frank was making a name for himself as a good auror along with his wife Alice. Regulus didn't know him too well personally, but Marlene still kept in touch with Alice.

“Unspeakable Black.” Frank said to Regulus. “I've been asked to give this to you.”

Frank handed him a golden cup.

“We found it while doing a warranted search of the Lestrange mansion. Its pulsating with dark magic.”

The object had been a mystery to the aurors. Though the DOM wasn't able to do much better. Regulus went home that night to find his wife waiting for him. Marlene was seven months along in her pregnancy. He kissed his wife and then noticed his grandfather sitting at the kitchen table.

“Grandfather. What brings you here?”

Arcturus smiled when he saw his grandson, but it quickly faded. Regulus took another look and saw Abraxas Malfoy was also in the room.

“Andromeda has been sending letters to Narcissa and I. She's been inquiring about the Black family and our stance in this war.” Arcturus said. “I'm here to warn you.”

Regulus sat down. Arcturus handed him a letter he had brought with him.

“Is she serious?” Regulus asked.

Dear grandfather, the letter said, I was wondering when you'd reinstate me in the family. With the blood purists gone I thought I'd be able to come back. After all, I was unfairly disowned for marrying a muggle-born. With love, Andromeda.

“She knows she wasn't disowned for marrying a muggle-born, right?”

Arcturus sighed.

“It seems she's forgotten about the incident with the Lovegood family.”

The mere memory made Arcturus sick. Andromeda had been taken with the heir of the Lovegood family, Xenophilius. The problem was Xenophilius wasn't taken with her. He had instead taken a liking to the the Malfoy's daughter Pandora. He had always been a bit of an odd boy. Kind, but odd. And Pandora seemed to be a perfect match for him. She was creative, loving and just as curious about the world.

Everything had been fine until Andromeda attempted to force herself between the two lovers. It had taken her begging and pleading to have her parents discuss a marriage contract. They had been hesitant as the Lovegoods weren't that high in the social circles. But, Andromeda refused everyone that had been offered to her. She had demanded that she be courted by only the Lovegood heir. It wasn't to be. He was already courting Pandora. There was no getting him to like her.

Andromeda had been so upset that she started parading around with other boys in an attempt to make him jealous. It wasn't the best method of getting over heartbreak, but at least she wasn't doing anything too bad. Then she became known as easy.

Arcturus didn't want to know what she had done to be known as easy Andromeda. He knew, he knew all too well what, but he didn't want to know. The girl was going against all her lessons and besmirching her name. In the end she tried one last time to get Xenophilius. And the girl had thought a love potion was the best way to get what she wanted. Of all the things she could've done, she went for the highly illegal thing. It didn't work. Thank goodness for that. But it was over. She should've been disowned then and there. Her actions could've started a blood feud between the Blacks and the Lovegoods. But, she was still given a last chance. And she showed how much it mattered to her when she ran off with a random muggle-born boy. Only after she had completely disgraced herself, was she finally disowned.

“This is ridiculous.” Regulus said. “First Andromeda and now the dark cup found in Bellatrix's home. I wouldn't want to see the Black family reputation if they were still family.”

“Cup?” lord Malfoy asked.

“Its just something I've had to look into at work sir.”

“Is the cup golden? With two handles and a badger on it?”

“Yes sir, how -”

Regulus saw the look of concern on lord Malfoy's face.

“It belongs to the dark lord.”

“May I ask sir, how do you know?” Regulus asked.

“We were roommates at Hogwarts. Though back then he was Tom Riddle. He told be about all sorts of things.”

Regulus needed a moment for the information to sink in.

“Does... Does that mean you know what's made it dark?”

“I have an idea. Though its very unpleasant.”

Regulus wanted to know. He needed to know.

“What's so dark about the cup?”

“He spoke about it once, about horcruxes.”


	13. Problems for the Potters and the War Progressed

“Headmaster!” Lily yelled after flooing to Dumbledore's office.

“What's going on? Is it Voldemort?”

Lily flinched at the name.

“No. James and Sirius were fired!”

Dumbledore calmed down.

“Is that all? I'm sure its just a slight misunderstanding. I'll go to the DMLE and get this all sorted out.”

“Thank you headmaster.”

Dumbledore had Lily floo back home before making his way to the ministry. He walked to the DMLE where he was met by Alastor Moody.

“Alastor.” Dumbledore said. “Are you well?”

“I'm fine Albus. What are you doing here?”

“I've just come to clear up a slight misunderstanding. Lily told me the Potters have lost their jobs. I'm sure its just some death eaters trying to discredit them.”

Moody didn't look like he agreed with Dumbledore. And Dumbledore didn't like that look. It told him there were greater problems.

“I wouldn't try talking to Amelia.” Moody said.

“Now I'm sure she's doing well, but I'm here to talk with Bartemius Crouch.”

“Crouch has been demoted Albus. His son was discovered to be a death eater. Crouch stepped down from his position before anyone could say anything about him or his family. Amelia's the one in charge now.”

Dumbledore paused.

“Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a conversation. After all, its very important.”

Moody watched Dumbledore leave. Unlike the rest of Dumbledore's followers, he knew the man wasn't all powerful. Maybe if he'd had more seats in the wizengamot he could get the Potters jobs back. But, things were pretty bad. Moody wanted to call out to Dumbledore and stop him. Only he knew that Dumbledore wouldn't listen. He only hoped that Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

“No.” Amelia said.

“Now I'm sure its just a slight misunderstanding. We wouldn't want the Potters to suffer because of this mistake.”

“No. And do you know why?” Amelia asked. “Because the Potters were attacking random citizens. They believed they had the right to be judge, jury and executioner. They took advantage of their positions to attack anyone they deemed dark and even broke into people's homes with the excuse that they were aurors.”

“Amelia, don't you see? They're just trying to protect people. If they believed that someone was dangerous, they chose to step in as is their job.”

Amelia glared at Dumbledore.

“There's a difference between doing their jobs and ignoring basic human rights. Do you know how many people pressed charges? They've injured innocent people and the DMLE doesn't have time to be cleaning up their messes.”

“But we need everyone we can get to fight against Voldemort. Its for the greater good.”

Amelia didn't flinch at the name.

“The DMLE isn't paying anymore fees or writing anymore apologies on their behalf.”

Amelia dragged Dumbledore out of her office. She refused to hear another word, telling him to leave unless he wanted the aurors to escort him out of the building.

Dumbledore needed to think quickly. The Potters were a good light family, but lacked money. He couldn't have them ending up on the streets. They would need jobs and quickly. Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts. He looked at his chessboard and tried to figure out what his next move was.

The next day he hadn't even been able to leave his rooms when the floo flared up. Dumbledore quickly went to answer it. Lily flew out of the floo with James and Sirius behind her.

“Headmaster!”

“I'm here. There's no need to shout.”

Lily shoved a copy of the daily prophet into Dumbledore's hands. Dumbledore looked down at the front page and paled. The headline, Potters Fired for Criminal Offences, wasn't good. Somehow Rita Skeeter had found out about the Potters being fired and gotten hold of very incriminating information. Everything about James and Sirius's time as aurors was on display.

“What do we do? The DMLE has asked us to pay the fines. We can't afford to. We have a baby at home now and no money in the bank.” Lily said.

The Potters first and only child (as far as Lily was concerned) was just over a year old. And Dumbledore remembered how much Lily had been hoping to get herself some house elves or a nanny or something. She currently had her neighbor, the elderly Bathilda Bagshot, watching their son during emergencies.

“You'll need to get jobs. All of you.” Dumbledore said.

The latter part he had spoken to Lily.

“And where will we work? The DMLE won't take us back.” James said.

“Here.” Dumbledore said. “I'm sure I can get you into some of the assistants positions.”

He would've preferred them as professors, but knew there was nothing available. James and Sirius could qualify for the DADA position as they had been aurors. But, he couldn't do it now. Not after everything that had been written in the daily prophet. If it wasn't for the new hiring criteria he could've gotten Lily a professor's position. But, she didn't have a mastery in any of the subjects.

Dumbledore looked through the jobs available at Hogwarts. Only the groundskeepers and the caretakers were in need of assistants. Assistants jobs helping professors always prioritized those from the apprenticeship program, so they were always filled. He decided to make James and Sirius assistants to the groundskeepers. It was a position the board couldn't argue with as they'd have little to no contact with the students. As for Lily, Dumbledore knew better than to place her with the caretakers. She was the kind of person who despised such menial work. So he took her on as his own assistant. The only problem was that the board refused to have her paid from the Hogwarts budget. The headmaster didn't get an assistant as his job was to oversee the entire school and the deputy head was meant to act as his assistant. So he was forced to pay Lily from his own pocket.

“When did things start going so wrong?” Dumbledore asked himself.

He found his answer as he continued looking through the daily prophet. A few pages in he saw an article about Severus Prince who was working alongside the DMLE, providing healing potions and using his extensive knowledge of the dark arts to help counter death eater attacks.

The article stated that the now twenty-five year old potions master had also gained a mastery in DADA and in spell crafting.

Dumbledore thought back to the task he asked Lily to complete. She'd had no luck thus far. But, maybe... Dumbledore needed to improve the Potter image. He also needed money to fight the war. It seemed the time to act was upon them and he'd need to bring out his ultimate weapon.

While Dumbledore planned, Regulus was in a cave, dealing with a nasty poison. The information provided by lord Malfoy made everything fall into place. With the help of the goblins, the unspeakables were able to locate more objects that were pulsating with dark magic.

Soon the war would end and the dark lord would die. Regulus was thankful they'd been able to get a sample of the poison to Severus. In the limited time they had he couldn't make a proper cure. But, Severus was able to provide a draught for the poor person who ended up drinking the poison. It'd be enough to ensure they didn't die after drinking it. They were close to obtaining the item in the cave. All it would take was a little more time and they could end the war.

Everyone was preparing for the moment when everything was to end.


	14. End of the War and Beginning of a Battle

Severus read the daily prophet. For weeks the front page went on and on about the boy-who-lived. Everyone praised the child for stopping the dark lord. Severus just found it silly. It was the DMLE who found all the horcruxes and destroyed them. But, it was a mere boy just over two years old who got all the praise for defeating the dark lord.

Now it would've been fine if not for his parents. James and Lily Potter were not so humble about their son's accomplishment.

Severus still wondered how the boy had survived. He wasn't about to believe in Dumbledore's theory of love. If that were the case, than this wouldn't be the first time someone survived the killing curse. But, Dumbledore paraded his theory around like it was the greatest discovery in history. And all of this was because of a prophecy that a woman named Sybil Trelawney spoke. The prophecy itself got Trelawney hired as a divination professor at Hogwarts. Severus wasn't sure if the woman was actually qualified for the job or not. It was one of the iffier subjects.

“If you want to burn the paper, I can do it for you.”

Severus looked up to see his wife. Desiree was holding their one year old daughter in her arms. Severus set the paper down, taking his daughter who was reaching out to him.

“The daily prophet is a mess.” he said.

“What did you expect from gossip?”

Gossip or not, it didn't change the fact that Dumbledore was up to something. Any Slytherin worth their name could tell.

It seemed that even with the dark lord gone, they couldn't let their guard down. Severus had already called for a meeting of the Prince, Black and Malfoy alliance. It would now consist of him, Regulus and Lucius. They had taken over their family titles after the war had ended. It was a good time to take their titles as things started to calm down. The sound of knocking on glass took Severus from his thoughts. He and Desiree turned to see an owl at the window. Desiree opened it, letting the owl into the room where it dropped the letter and left without even grabbing a treat.

“Is it that Potter woman again?” Desiree asked.

They looked down at the letter. Lily had been sending letters for years and Severus had been ignoring them for years. He had gone so far as to block any letters from her. How this one got in was a mystery. Then he saw another name.

“Seems she sent this through Dumbledore.” Severus said.

Desiree was finding she liked the Potter woman less and less. She remembered the first few letters. It troubled her how there was more to be found reading between the lines than reading the actual lines. All the innuendos weren't appreciated. It had taken all her inner strength not to go searching for that woman to slap some sense into her.

“So how do you want to burn this one?” Desiree asked. “The fireplace is a classic method, but I could also use my veela fire.”

“I was thinking a simple spell would do it.”

Severus handed his daughter back to his wife. With a simple wave of his hand the letter burst into flames.

“How long is she going to keep this up?” Severus asked.

The letters would only get bolder. Severus thought if he had read the letter it would've just been Lily stating what she wanted as clear as day. And it was disgusting. They were both married and he personally loved his wife. He couldn't say that Lily loved her husband. It'd be denial to say she felt such affections for James Potter.

“You know,” Desiree said while looking at the letter's ashes, “the Potters are probably going to take advantage of the boy-who-lived title for a while.”

“Obviously.”

“That means they'll probably receive a lot of money and invitations to parties.”

Severus caught on to what Desiree was saying.

“Do you think there's a way to avoid social gatherings?”

“We attend the bare minimum... So no.”

Severus could see so many things going wrong. The obvious was Lily latching onto him. There was a chance she'd leave him alone now that she had fame and wealth. But, she still sent a letter. She'd even bothered to find a way to get it to him.

In the evening, Severus thought back to his childhood. He recalled the red headed girl who was playing in the park with her sister. She made a flower bloom. Such a small yet wondrous feat of magic. Those green eyes had been so innocent, so full of wonder. What happened? He then remembered his mind healer appointments. They had given him some ideas. Lily may have been changed by entering a new world, by the people she met or by the mere revelation that magic was real. The answer was probably a combination of things. But was her change really a change or just her true nature coming out?

“Is the letter still bothering you?” Desiree asked.

“I just don't understand how someone so innocent at nine years old could become so...”

“Shameless?” Desiree paused to take a breath. “Everyone's innocent as a child and rarely do we keep that innocence. Its not your fault that she became the person she is now.”

Severus smiled. “You're right. Thank you beloved.”

Then Severus pulled Desiree into a warm embrace.


	15. An Offer of Employment

Three years had passed. Severus was sitting in his office at Prince Manor when a letter arrived. It was from Dumbledore and peaked Severus's interest. He quickly called upon Regulus and Lucius so that they could begin forming a strategy. Severus later sent a letter back, agreeing to a meeting.

The meeting consisted of Dumbledore's order members. The Potters, Lupin, McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn, Sprout, the Tonks family, Arthur and Molly Weasley and Alastor Moody. All of them were expected to welcome Severus with open arms. Dumbledore wanted Severus on his side. He knew the money and seats of the Prince family would give him power. But, none of them had expected Severus to walk in with a beautiful woman holding a four year old girl. The woman was obviously a veela. Everyone could see it. The little girl was also beautiful, clearly the woman's child. The little girl had black hair that contrasted her pale skin and her eyes were a violet color. The little girl's hair was long, pulled back by a violet ribbon.

“Welcome back Severus.” Flitwick said, being the first to come back to his senses. “Who've you brought with you.”

“May I introduce my wife Desiree and our daughter Cosette.”

Severus pulled his wife and daughter close. The entire room looked at them, unsure of how to react. Dumbledore was the only one to keep track of Severus and even then he only looked at the daily prophet for information. So none of them had been aware of his marriage. The ones to react first were Flitwick and Sprout. The heads of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were quick to congratulate Severus on his marriage and child.

Desiree had made the choice to come to the meeting with Severus. When she heard that Dumbledore had requested his presence, she just had to go. She wanted to meet the people who had overlooked and even hurt her husband. And, as she was so open to admit, she didn't trust Lily Potter near her husband. Everything she's seen and heard about her screamed unashamed flirt. So of course she had to go and show how strong her relationship with Severus was. Anyone with half a brain knew not to mess with a veela. They were very protective of their partners and didn't take kindly to anyone who tried to interfere in their relationships. Bringing their daughter along was just another way to show how strong their relationship was. And even though the Potters had a son, she refused to take any chances with Lily being near her husband.

“Its a pleasure to meet you all.”

Desiree had a french accent, but spoke perfect english. She noticed Lily turning red. The woman certainly wasn't pleased. With introductions out of the way, Severus turned to Dumbledore.

“Why did you want to meet with me?”

Dumbledore quickly smiled, showing the twinkle in his eyes.

“One of Hogwarts's potions professors has just retired. I was hoping you'd take over the position. And also I'd like to offer you the position of head of Slytherin house. Professor Slughorn has chosen to give up the position to focus on other things.”

Severus wasn't fooled. He'd heard from Lucius that Slughorn had nearly lost his job due to his favoritism and the slug club. The slug club had been banned. But, Slughorn didn't listen and they'd taken away his head of house position.

“The offer is interesting.” Severus said.

“And of course we'll provide rooms for your family.” Dumbledore added.

“Alright.”

Dumbledore looked pleased.

“Please send the contract to Gringotts. I'll have my lawyer look it over and then work out the details with you at a later date.”

Dumbledore looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

“Gringotts?” Dumbledore asked. “Why there?”

“My lawyer is a goblin. Its only natural to send the contract to Gringotts for it to be looked over.”

“Now my boy, there's no reason for that.”

“Oh?” Severus said. “Than it seems I cannot work here.”

Just as they were about to leave, Dumbledore stopped them.

“No need my boy, no need. I'll have the contract sent to Gringotts.”

“Thank you headmaster. And please, don't refer to me as your boy. I'm not your child.”

Dumbledore nodded. Looking to break the silence, Molly Weasley started to speak.

“Shouldn't you take your child somewhere to play. She must be bored listening to adults talk. I'd be happy to watch her for you.”

“No.” Desiree said in a stern tone.

“Now dear, I have seven children and I know how to handle them.”

Flitwick tried to silence Molly. He knew a bit about veelas and knew they were very protective of their children just like they were of their partners.

“I'm sure I can -”

“No.” Desiree said again. “While it's lovely that you have seven children, it doesn't mean you can deal with all children. My daughter is half veela and requires different care to wizard children. So please, stop assuming you know what's best for my daughter.”

“Well I never. I'll have you know I'm a wonderful mother and -”

“Stop it.” Arthur said.

Everyone could see the embarrassment on the man's face.

“She isn't our daughter Molly, so leave her be.”

As the arguing grew, Cosette looked from the adults to her parents.

“Pourquoi les adultes se disputent-ils comme des enfants?”

All eyes turned to Cosette.

“You're daughter speaks french?” Sirius asked.

Cosette then got a deadpan look on her face that reminded everyone of Severus.

“Of course I speak french. I'm half french after all.” she replied.

“Then why speak french when you aren't in France?”

Dumbledore wondered why Sirius was questioning a four year old. He could see Severus and his wife were already annoyed by Molly. He didn't need Sirius to annoy them further.

“Why not?” Cosette replied.

“Because its rude to speak in a language not everyone knows!” Molly yelled.

Dumbledore wanted to silence Molly before she truly angered the Prince family. But, to his and everyone's surprise, Cosette smiled.

“Pardon me. I asked why the adults were arguing like children.”

Flitwick, Sprout and Lupin laughed. Even Moody couldn't fully suppress his own laughter. Severus smiled at his daughter as did Desiree.

Before Molly could reply, Dumbledore silenced her.

“We're all just very excited to have you and your family here.” he said.

The way Cosette looked at him made it clear that she didn't believe him. But, she didn't say anything else to him.

“I must say, you're a well spoken girl.” Flitwick said.

“Thank you professor. It means a lot to know that my papa has taught me well.”

“Did you shove a dictionary down her throat?”

All eyes turned to Sirius. People like Flitwick, Sprout and Lupin were shocked at how he'd just spoken. Dumbledore was loosing patience with him.

“Sirius, apologize.” Dumbledore said, hoping to earn points with the Prince family.

“For what?”

They argued for a little bit until Dumbledore turned to the Princes to apologize himself.

“It seems that he hasn't grown up much.” Severus said.

Dumbledore was really starting to worry. Severus's tone wasn't a pleasant one.

“Cosette, I'm so sorry for how Sirius has spoken to you.”

Dumbledore hoped that making Cosette happy would also make her parents happy. He feared she would throw a tantrum. He'd seen the two youngest Weasley children and Jamie Potter throw massive tantrums when not spoken to properly. Once again he and everyone else were surprised.

“Its alright. Most people who don't know me assume I swallowed a dictionary.”

“And those who do know you?”

This time Dumbledore silenced Sirius, not wanting to take anymore chances.

“Those who do, know I'm the daughter of Severus Prince.”

What Cosette didn't say was that it also had to do with her being half veela. Veelas were mostly known for their beauty and charm. But, what many people didn't know was that they developed faster than normal wizard children.

“Such a smart child.” Flitwick said. “I'm sure you'd do well in Ravenclaw.”

“Thank you professor, but if I do attend Hogwarts I plan to be in Slytherin just like my papa.”

“Isn't that nice.” Dumbledore said. “Severus, I hope you'll be joining the staff soon. It would be so exciting to have an accomplished potions master such as yourself working here.”

“I'm sure we can work something out before September.” Severus said.

Severus was already prepared. With Regulus and Lucius giving their input, he had come to a decision. He'd work at Hogwarts for the sake of overcoming the final challenge presented to the Slytherins and anyone considered dark.

The way Dumbledore took advantage of the Potters new found fame made it clear that they couldn't leave him unattended. It was especially important as Dumbledore clearly wasn't finished with the death eaters. The man was already hinting at the dark lord still being alive. It was too bad that the magical death certificate of Tom Riddle hadn't been released. But, it may have been a blessing. They didn't need Dumbledore trying to hide the truth.


	16. Plans and Tea

Once again Dumbledore had called the order of the phoenix. However, this gathering didn't include Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn. He had just gotten Severus's contract signed. The goblins had forced him to give Severus a favorable teaching contract without any hidden clauses whatsoever. So he had no control through it. They even made several copies; making sure he, the Prince family, the board of education, the ministry and Gringotts had it on file.

“Now I've called all of you here because I believe there's a way to get the Princes on our side so that we may defeat Voldemort.”

Everyone flinched.

“What's your plan Albus?” Minerva asked.

“A marriage contract between Jamie and Cosette.”

James flew out of his seat.

“There's no way my son is marrying a slimy snake!”

“Absolutely not!” Molly cried.

“Sit down.” Dumbledore order.

James did as he was told as Lily pulled him back to his seat.

“My daughter is supposed to marry Jamie.” Molly said. “She's meant to be the wife of the boy who lived.”

“Now Molly, there are plenty of good boys out there for your daughter to marry. But, we need the Prince family on our side. And James,” Dumbledore said, turning to face James Potter, “this would mean your family can get a title and incredible wealth. It would benefit the order and be for the greater good. So you must teach Jamie to be a perfect boy. I'm sure Severus will only accept the best for his daughter.”

“Jamie's already perfect.” James said.

“Yes and that Prince girl is so rude.” Molly added.

Dumbledore sighed. He wanted to point out that Molly had been the rude one, overstepping the way she had, but didn't care to listen to her yell.

“That's enough. If we want to defeat Voldemort, we need to appeal to the Prince family. Its all for the greater good.”

Desiree was having tea with her closest friends, the ladies Marlene Black and Narcissa Malfoy. Their children were all playing together. She watched as her daughter played with her friends sons for a few minutes before turning to her friends.

“I met the order of the phoenix.”

“And what did you think?” Marlene asked.

“They were awful.”

The three women laughed. Marlene remembered being at Hogwarts and how she was once friends with Lily. Though their friendship went sour by the end of their sixth year. With all that happened she didn't feel comfortable with her anymore. It was the same for Alice who had married Frank Longbottom after graduating. She was glad that Alice and Frank didn't join the order, instead working for the DMLE as aurors. If they weren't currently on vacation with their own son, she was sure Alice would also be at their little get together with little Neville.

“That Molly woman has such a loud voice. I'm surprised she isn't a banshee with the scream she has.” Desiree said. “And it was most insulting that she thought she'd do a better job parenting my daughter than I would.”

“So,” Marlene said, “what do you think of Lily?”

“She didn't speak during the meeting. However, it was obvious that she didn't like me. Her face turned red from the second I spoke.”

The ladies laughed together. Then their faces went stern.

“Are you sure you'll be okay at Hogwarts?” Narcissa asked.

Over the years they'd tried to push Dumbledore out of power. A lot of it had worked. The discovery of his embezzling the Hogwarts funds led to an inquiry into his accounts. Line theft and his embezzlement from other accounts came up and he was charged. The money was returned as were all the inheritances he stole. However, too many people still liked him. His defeat of Grindelwald and his connection to the boy who lived gave him enough power to stay as Hogwarts headmaster. Though he lost all his other titles. But, that didn't mean he was no longer a threat. Every Slytherin knew not to think it was over just because he'd been taken down a few pegs.

“Thank you for your concern Narcissa.” Desiree said. “However, we think its best to be at Hogwarts so we can protect the students and our own daughter if we choose to have her attend.”

The two women agreed with her. Though they already had people at Hogwarts, it wasn't a bad idea to have more there to protect the children.

“I just hope we can find a way to get Dumbledore out of power.” Marlene said.

“The man certainly isn't helping himself.” Narcissa added. “He keeps claiming the dark lord isn't truly gone and will return one day.”

The three women turned to their children. Watching Cosette, Draco and Rigel playing so happily made them want to protect those smiling faces.


	17. Six Years Later

Cosette Prince had spent much of her life developing her skills. Her mother taught her music (piano) and dance as a way to help her control her veela powers. It was normal among veela to teach their children an art form to express themselves and challenge them in their fast development. Her father had been her main teacher in potions, though he also dipped into other subjects whenever she asked. She also got help from her grandmother, whom she was also named after as she was Cosette Eileen Prince. Though one of the most important skills she learned came from her great-grandfather. Cosette, like many Princes before her, had gained the two family skills: potions and legilimency. Legilimency was the sort of skill that could be a blessing and a curse. It was nice to be able to tell if a person is lying to you, but slipping into others minds randomly wasn't fun or polite. So Cosette had to learn to control the skill, nurturing her talent, to ensure she didn't accidentally slip into anyone's mind. To do that she had to learn occlumency.

Occlumency is what helped Cosette the most. The mind magics was not only necessary, but useful in boosting her memory and organizing her mind along with protecting it. It was much easier to learn all she had with the memory boost. And perhaps its what also got her an outstanding on her potions O.W.L.

It hadn't been on purpose that she took the O.W.L. Her quicker development was just so fascinating to the witches and wizards around her that eventually one of the potions examiners asked her if she'd like to take the test. She was sure it was just because of who her parents were, both being well known potions masters, as well as the examiner just being nice. So she chose to take it. And then she received her results over the summer. It was splashed all over the daily prophet that Cosette was the youngest person ever to receive an O.W.L and that it was an outstanding in potions. That's when all the offers came in

Many schools wanted to have the youngest O.W.L student join the next semester. It wasn't too much of a stretch. She was ten years old after all and only one year younger than the usual cut for students. And her parents had seriously considered sending her to Beauxbatons. Though Cosette declined. As much as she'd love to attend her mother's school, she knew her friends would be at Hogwarts and that her parents would be there as well. So when the board of education offered her an early start at Hogwarts Cosette accepted.

She was glad she'd start the same year as Draco and Rigel. They could share classes, except potions as she was being placed in sixth year potions.

The Prince family had arrived at Diagon Alley only to withdraw some money from Gringotts and get Cosette's uniform before going to the other alleys where things were much more affordable. There were reporters everywhere. The biggest news that day was the youngest Hogwarts student ever and her incredible O.W.L score.

Photographers were taking pictures of the Prince family, focusing on Cosette in her light pink dress that had the Prince family crest of a light gold crown surrounded by white lilies sown onto it. She didn't like how they followed her and her parents. It was annoying. Of course it wasn't the first time she'd experienced this with her parents famed for their potions, but still. It was uncomfortable. And Severus knew how his daughter felt. He was quick to step in front of her and his wife, being the protective father and husband that he was. He called for silence, waiting for the reporters to stop yelling questions at him.

“Don't you see you're making my family uncomfortable.” he said in a stern voice. “I ask that you leave now or I'll be forced to call the aurors to restrain you.”

Then a reporter yelled out. “We want to interview you. I'm sure you're proud of your daughter.”

Severus looked to where the voice had come from. The reporter looked fairly young and seemed new to the job.

“Any interviews will only be done if my daughter agrees to them. Now please leave us alone.”

Everyone knew not to mess with Severus Prince, especially when he used his stern voice. It was widely known that the Prince family used goblin lawyers and the goblin court and no one wanted to find themselves under trial by goblin. It had once happened to a fool who had been stalking them and had been taken to court for attacking them. Turns out it was a stray death eater, someone of the outer circle who was trying to gain the favor of he-who-must-not-be-named by bringing in the Prince family. The goblins made no secret of his harsh punishment.

Just as the Prince family was about to leave, they ran into another family who had reporters flocking around them.

“Severus!” Lily Potter called out.

She jumped out in front of the Prince family. Dumbledore had told her the Prince family was spotted in Diagon alley and ordered the Potters to go there. They had tried for years to get Cosette to play with Jamie. But Cosette, being more mature due to her quicker development and being a seemingly quiet child, didn't take well to him. She found the boy loud and obnoxious. It was no secret that he was arrogant and spoiled. It almost reminded her of what Draco had been like around the ages of three and four. Except his parents used proper discipline so that Draco grew out of his temper tantrums. And Draco certainly didn't have that holier-than-thou attitude like the Potter child.

“Mrs. Potter, please move out of our way, we have an appointment we must get to. And please don't refer to me by my first name. Its rather rude to do so when we aren't friends.”

“Oh Severus, aren't you here for school shopping? We're about to go get Jamie's wand. If Cosette hasn't gotten hers, why don't they get them together?”

Rather than Severus answering, it was Desiree.

“Actually Mrs. Potter, we're getting our daughter a custom wand. That's why we really must be going. Our appointment is rather soon.”

Desiree latched tightly onto Severus's arm. She also pulled her daughter close, stepping in front of her so that the Potter child wouldn't be able to bother her.

“Custom made? Ollivander's has the best wands around.” James said.

“While he's a skilled wand maker, he doesn't do custom orders.” Desiree said. “I'd like for my daughter's wand core to be my own veela hair.”

The crowd that had gathered found it sweet while the reporters took many notes.

“Do you think you're too good for Ollivander's wands?” Sirius said.

Lily saw where this was going. She saw the reporters taking notes and beside her Lupin just looked embarrassed.

“Actually, its one of the veela traditions. We like to provide our own hair for our children's wands so that our power is always there to protect them.”

One of the Potters, James or Sirius or maybe both, was about to say something. Severus cut them off before they could delay them any further.

“Now we really must be going. Enjoy your shopping.”

They quickly moved around the group, escaping Diagon Alley before they could be pulled back by the Potters. Lily wasn't happy. Dumbledore had told them to be seen with the Prince family. They needed to present Jamie and Cosette as having young love. People were supposed to think they were close and instead James and Sirius had to go and ruin everything. And she especially hated how Desiree played the dutiful wife of a powerful lord. It should've been her, not that veela.

Arriving at Essenti Alley, the Prince family made their way to Mrs. Rosewood's Wand Shop. They made it just in time for their appointment, greeting Mrs. Cynthia Rosewood the fifth. Straight away Mrs. Rosewood asked for Cosette's wand hand and did some measurements. Desiree pulled out a box with some of her veela hair in it for Mrs. Rosewood to use in the wand.

Something not many people knew is that veela hair is only used in wands for veelas and more specifically veela of the same family. It had been shown that veela hair wands only work for members of the donating veela's family and fight against anyone else.

Mrs. Rosewood then took Cosette into a room. Though they'd be using veela hair for her wand core, she still tested Cosette for any other possible wand cores. It was more of a formality than anything else. She picked up some of the crushed pearl as Cosette had a reaction to it. Then they moved on to woods. Cosette had a little compatibility with some woods, but strong compatibility to two: cherry wood and silver lime.

While many witches and wizards of Britain bought their wands from Ollivander, there were some key differences between him and Mrs. Rosewood. Ollivander sold pre-made wands, meaning they were cheaper to buy, but also never fully right for their user. Of course they were compatible. But, it was rare for one of Ollivander's wands to be truly connected with their owner, especially seeing as he used only three types of cores and didn't use certain types of woods. There was also the difference in balance. Ollivander balanced his wands through using one wood type with one core type. Again, it was in no way a bad thing. They were good wands. But, Mrs. Rosewood could balance more than two components, allowing for a greater variety of wands that are better suited to their owners. Wands were such a personal thing that it was better to tailor them to a person than mass producing them.

The final step to making Cosette's wand was having her feel it out. It meant she was there for the process of its creation. Again, with Ollivander a person could purchase their wand right away. But, with Mrs. Rosewood they had to be there and a part of the creation process. It took more time, but was also more rewarding for the owner.

Severus had actually gotten himself a custom wand after graduating from Hogwarts. While he still had his old wand, he had to admit his new wand felt much better in his hands. He was actually surprised to find out that so long as they could afford it, most people chose to get custom wands. It was common in Slytherin. Though, with the Hogwarts acceptance letters promoting Diagon Alley, which had everything in one place, not everyone did. And another good thing about not buying everything from Diagon Alley was that while the wands were cheaper, many other things weren't. Diagon Alley was considered a high class alley. It had brand names, making many of it's items more expensive due to the store labels. And while it was good for muggle raised children to go there so as not to overwhelm them and have them running around from one alley to another on their first visit, it didn't need to be that way every single year.

Cosette's final wand ended up being fourteen and three quarter inches long. It was slightly flexible and its core was made of her mother's veela hair. Mrs. Rosewood ended up adding a sprinkle of powdered pearl to help balance the wand which gave the duel colored wand a slight sparkle. The handle was carved with a vine like design.

“A powerful and loyal wand that's consistent when casting. Good for healing and protection. That'll be fifteen galleons and four sickles.”

Cosette was pleased to hear about her wand's properties for healing and protection. With the rest of their shopping going quickly they soon arrived home. Before Cosette went to bed, Severus pulled her aside and gave her a hug.

“Is something wrong papa?” Cosette asked.

“No. I just want to warn you about your wand so you won't be caught off guard at Hogwarts.”

“Is this about Dumbledore?”

Severus nodded.

“While many people have custom wands, you have one that's very noticeable. Remember that not everyone knows or cares about custom wands. They may try to do or say things. If anyone tries to do anything to you, come to me right away.”

“Yes papa. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.

Severus left his daughter to sleep as his mind filled with worry. He knew what the plan was. But, that didn't stop him from questioning if what he was doing was right. Cosette would be safer at a different school. Beauxbatons would probably suit her well. But, he had to trust his daughter knew what she was doing. He kept telling himself that it would all be over soon.


	18. Train Ride

When September first came Cosette had chosen to ride the train to Hogwarts. She could've easily gone with her parents. But, she wanted to experience the first ride with her friends. Draco was at her side of course. They met up with Rigel Black and Neville Longbottom on the platform. While saying their goodbyes her mother hugged her tightly and her father tried to warn her about anything and everything that could happen.

“Mama, papa, you'll see me at dinner.”

“We know but... We didn't think you'd be going to school this early.” her mother said with tears in her eyes.

She thought Cosette looked absolutely adorable in her uniform. Desiree couldn't wait to see her daughter enter the great hall among the other first years and be sorted. As her daughter boarded the train, she held onto her husband. She dried her eyes with a handkerchief while taking a brief moment to speak with Marlene, Narcissa, Alice and Augusta, all of whom asked her to watch out for their children.

On the train Cosette found a compartment with the three boys. Aside from some first years, those who hadn't read the daily prophet, just about everyone recognized her. It wasn't surprising considering her parents worked at Hogwarts and she was often seen at the back of her father's potions classes. Though sometimes she was allowed to see other classes, usually with professors Flitwick and Sprout. The group began talking and Cosette just had to ask.

“What kind of wands did everyone get?”

She told them her own first to be polite. Next was Draco.

“Twelve inch, reasonably springy. Its made of hawthorn wood with a mix of unicorn hair and dragon heartstring for the core.”

“Cool. Dragon for the dragon.” Rigel said, partially to tease his cousin. “Mine is eleven and a half inches, ridged. Its made of spruce with a core of powdered bloodstone and golden obsidian.”

Rigel showed off his wand. As he continued to show off, Cosette pulled out her own wand and all eyes were on it. It certainly didn't look like an average wand with its two colors and slight sparkle.

“What about you Neville?” Draco asked.

“I got rowan wood with a thunderbird tail feather core. Twelve and a half inches very flexible.”

Not long into the ride someone, rather two someones, knocked on their compartment door. The Weasley twins entered the compartment.

“Hello heirs Prewett.” the four first years said.

“Hello heirs Malfoy, Black and Longbottom. And greetings to the lovely heiress Prince.”

Everyone giggled. The greeting was a formal one and not strictly necessary in their current environment. But, they still chose to use it, knowing the Weasley twins would likely make a few jokes out of it.

Cosette had been the first of the group to formally meet the Weasley twins. Later they met her other three friends. It was all due to the Prewett estate. The current Lady Prewett was the Weasley's aunt Muriel and the twins were her heirs as twins gained prominence in the Prewett family. Due to their status as her heirs, she had partial custody over them. They visited her every other weekend and both attended some casual events with her. It was the usual for heirs. They attended casual events, but never the big things as they were too young. One had to be at least thirteen years old to start attending the more serious events. Though the Weasley twins were also a little better off in terms of finance than the rest of their family. It was another thing with Muriel having partial custody. She payed for their school supplies which meant they didn't have second hand robes like the rest of their siblings. Not that any of them were judging. It was just far more noticeable, especially since the prankster twins wore heir rings as part of their status.

“So what house -” Fred said.

“- are you hoping for?” George finished.

The twins were Hufflepuffs. Pity. Cosette was sure they could do well in Slytherin. Though they were both so kind and loyal.

“Slytherin.” Draco said. “Just like my parents.”

“How original.” Rigel said, once again teasing his cousin. “Not that I don't like Slytherin, but I'm thinking Ravenclaw.”

“Hufflepuff.” Neville said.

All eyes turned to Cosette.

“I think the answer's obvious.”

“Slytherin.” the boys said together.

As the ride continued, the group enjoyed a quiet conversation. The twins made jokes and Rigel teased his cousin. At one point he changed his appearance to mimic Draco. He'd done that often as kid after discovering he was a metamorphmagus. It was all in good fun. Cosette didn't speak much, but that was normal for her. She liked to listen and found herself relaxing. At some point the trolley came around. Cosette got herself a chocolate frog. She opened the box to find a Dumbledore card. She gave it the signature glare she'd learned from her father. The card ended up thrown away with the box. Though Cosette was sure the Dumbledore card had given the chocolate frog a slight taste of lemon.

The ride was nearly over when a random girl burst into their compartment. She had bushy hair and apparently no manners.

“Has anyone seen a rat? A kid named Ron lost his.”

The Weasley twins looked to one another.

“No.”

The girl was about to leave when she spotted Cosette.

“Aren't you Cosette Prince?”

Of course. Cosette put a blank look on her face, only showing a smile out of politeness.

“Yes, I am -”

“I read about you in the daily prophet. I'm Hermione Granger. My parents were so pleased when they found out I was a witch. So how'd you do it?”

“Pardon, but could you be more specific?”

“How'd you get your O.W.L so early? I want to do the same so I can get out of first year classes as quickly as possible.”

Cosette noticed her friends looking between themselves and then to her.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“What?” Granger said, suddenly sounding very offended. “ You don't think I could do it?”

“No, not at all. Its just that you said your parents were pleased to find out you're a witch. It suggests that you knew nothing of the magical world until a professor visited you with your letter. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with -”

“So you don't think I can do it because I'm a muggleborn?”

Granger began to cause a fuss. She disturbed the nearby compartments, leading to the students there going to get the prefects. When a Hufflepuff prefect arrived she asked what was going on.

Granger tried to claim Cosette was looking down on her for being a muggleborn. First, Cosette was far too well known. She was known for helping her mother in her creature rights campaign and was also not a pure-blood. In fact, she faced discrimination for being part creature. It was sad, but true. So it was hard to believe that Cosette of all people would discriminate. Then there was the other story. Everyone in the compartment and those who had been in the nearby ones all spoke against Granger. And when Cosette told her side of the story, they backed her up, knowing she was telling the truth. And then Granger was dragged away, forced to stay in a compartment beside the prefects for the rest of the train ride. There she joined Jamie Potter and Ron Weasley who had been caught bullying first years who wanted to be in Slytherin.

Jamie wasn't having a good day. First his wand was all wrong. Dumbledore said he had to get the holly wand with a phoenix tail feather core. Instead he got a wand made of chestnut wood with a dragon heartstring core. It was wrong and Ollivander refused to give him the right wand. Then when he was on the train he was locked away by the prefects for putting the slimy snakes in their place. When they got to Hogwarts he was going to get Dumbledore to punish the prefects.


	19. First Year - The Many Complaints of Hermione Granger

It started with her wand. Cosette was in charms class, sitting beside Draco. They had just taken out their wands to begin practicing when Granger looked over at them.

“What's wrong with your wand?”

Everyone turned to look at Cosette. They saw her unusual looking wand and not many seemed to care beyond being surprised by its appearance.

“There is nothing wrong with my wand Granger.” Cosette said in her usual soft tone.

“Yes there is. Its two colors and sparkles.”

“Is something wrong Miss Granger?” professor Flitwick asked.

“Cosette's wand is all wrong.”

Flitwick looked at Cosette's wand.

“Its a perfectly normal wand.”

“But its two colors and sparkles. Ollivander doesn't make wands like that.”

“I didn't buy my wand from Ollivander.” Cosette said. “I got mine custom made.”

Then Granger started to get angry.

“Just because you're rich doesn't mean you should make your own wand.”

“Five points from Gryffindor Miss Granger.”

“But, its wrong.”

“Miss Granger, many students get their wands custom made.”

“But it won't work well for her.”

“Actually,” Cosette said, “custom wands are known to be better connected to their owner than pre-made wands. And no, I didn't choose the components myself, aside from using some of my mother's hair as the core.”

“But -”

“That's enough Miss Granger. Continue and you'll get detention.”

Granger finally stopped talking. But, she did glare at Cosette for the rest of the class.

The next complaint was about rooms. Hogwarts had developed a rooming system. Everyone from first to fourth year shared with four people. Fifth and sixth year was two people. Seventh years got their own rooms. The only exceptions were students with lordships, who had to get their own rooms due to the work that came with their titles and students whose family worked at Hogwarts. Any student with family working at Hogwarts had the option to room with their family rather than in the dorms. And Hermione Granger found out when she heard Jamie Potter talking about it.

Jamie was bragging about having his own room when Granger was passing by. She overheard and then went on a rampage. At some point she found out Cosette also had her own room because her parents worked at Hogwarts and went to talk sense into her.

“That's not fair!” she said.

Cosette turned away from the girl. She was with Draco and Rigel when Hermione found her. It had crossed her mind that it was better to ignore the girl. Granger had made it clear, any attention given to her would only encourage her. So Cosette began to walk away. Granger didn't like that so she ran up and grabbed Cosette's hair, pulling her back. That was the wrong move. Its already wrong to pull someones hair, but to a veela, their hair is very important. The fact that Granger touched her hair, let alone pulling it, was a great offence. Before anything could happen, Rigel returned with professor Sprout.

“What's going on.”

“Cosette has her own room!”

The professor looked at her, wondering what the problem was.

“Granger believes that she has a right to lecture me about what's fair or not and when I tried to walk away she pulled my hair.”

“I didn't!”

It was hard to believe Granger while she was still clinging onto the lock of hair she'd grabbed. But, just to be certain, professor Sprout asked the portrait nearby. It had a perfect view of what had happened and told the professor Granger was lying.

“Five points from Gryffindor and detention with Filch Saturday morning.”

Once again Granger could only glare.

Cosette didn't hear about Granger again until after Yule. Though she heard a rumor that Granger complained about the wizarding holidays and how no one celebrated Halloween or Christmas. Cosette didn't know what Granger expected. This was the wizarding world and most people practiced the old ways, especially since they had been brought back to Hogwarts along with a wizarding culture class that all muggle raised students had to take. That's another thing she complained about.

But, what Granger was complaining about next were house elves. Apparently she had met one when it delivered a medical potion to a student in Gryffindor. She was horrified to see the creature in its Hogwarts uniform and to find out it worked without pay.

Before anyone could say anything, she started yelling about how that was slavery and everyone should be ashamed. And when she tried freeing the house elves, she turned them against her. Her attempts were useless of course. There was a special process to releasing house elves with a ritual and special item of clothing. But, more importantly, they weren't slaves. House elves, while capable of great magical feats, were frail creatures that required a magical connection to live. They often attached themselves to witches and wizards of great power. In exchange for food, home, protection and the magical connection, they liked to do housework. It was a mutualistic relationship.

“Will Granger ever stop yelling?” Rigel said as he tried to concentrate on his homework.

Cosette, Draco and Rigel were working on potions homework in the library.

“That girl is so lucky.” Cosette said.

When her two friends looked at her with confused expressions she explained.

“She hasn't met my personal house elf. I know Lopsy wouldn't have let her get away with all that yelling.”

“I don't think any of our house elves would let her do that.”

The three of them quickly stopped talking as Granger got nearer. They didn't need her knowing about their personal house elves. She'd probably accuse them of crimes for having house elves, despite their personal house elves being the wizarding form of a governess. Lopsy would've been horrified to see such a poorly behaved child. Then she'd go for discipline. Cosette was tempted to call for Lopsy just to see how she'd react. But, she knew better and a Lopsy punishment wasn't worth it.

They hadn't heard much else until the end of the year. Granger had become friends with Ron Weasley and Jamie Potter. The three were more obnoxious together than apart. Granger preached, Ron bullied and Jamie demanded that everyone bowed down to him.

Jamie Potter had gotten quite annoying, especially after being denied a chance to try out for the quidditch team. Apparently he thought himself above the rules and didn't think all the warnings about injury were real. McGonagall and Dumbledore tried to get him on the team. They stated that Jamie was a natural on the pitch and deserved a chance. The board didn't agree. There was a reason first years weren't allowed to play quidditch and no one was going to put a little boy in danger just because he wanted to bend the rules. Only Podmore and Dearborn voted in favor of Jamie Potter, while the rest voted against him.

Draco later told Cosette about how he'd thrown a tantrum during flying lessons. She didn't have to take them because her father had taught her the skill of unsupported flight, allowing her to pass the flight exam early. That opened up free time for her to take a different class (she was going for her healing O.W.L as a step towards her potions mastery).


	20. The End of First Year

The end of the year came. It was the day after exams were complete. Cosette was resting after getting through her potions exam. It was the one she was most nervous for. Of course everyone else told her that she was probably best in the class. Though that didn't stop her worrying. What was supposed to be a quite trip to the library ended with her and Draco overhearing the annoying trio. They were planning on going to the third floor for the philosopher's stone. Cosette felt a headache coming on.

Dumbledore had hidden a fake stone at Hogwarts when Nicholas Flamel refused to give him the real one. Her father had told her about the potions trial he'd been asked to set up. Cosette tested it. It was way too easy to be proper protection, especially against a dark lord. Though that dark lord was dead so it didn't really matter. Oh wait, this was a school full of children who are prone to doing stupid things because that's what children do sometimes. Cosette ran to her father, finding him and her mother in their office. She told them exactly what she heard.

Severus, upon hearing what the dunderheads were doing, sent a patronus (a peacock to match Desiree's peahen patronus) to professors Lupin and Flitwick. Lupin only got the message because he was one of the DADA professors, having actually earned his mastery in DADA. In the meantime Cosette and Draco stayed with her mother who called the aurors.

Severus, Flitwick and Lupin found the door open and a Cerberus, Fluffy according to professor Flitwick, chained up. Beneath the trap door they found a burned devil's snare. Flitwick called for Hagrid and professor Sprout. And then they found the annoying trio. The youngest Weasley boy was laying on the floor, clearly injured, of a large chessboard. Jamie Potter was beside him, also injured as there was a slight burn on his leg. They ended up finding Hermione Granger on the floor in the potions room with professor Trigg, the other DADA professor. Both of them had neon red skin.

“Uh, Severus...” Lupin began.

“There was no way to move forward. As if I'd actually leave a way to get through the fire. The two of them have drunken the draught of the living death.”

“And the color?” Flitwick asked.

“A warning to everyone else that these people are thieves.”

Seeing the looks on the two professors faces he added:

“It wares off in a few days.”

By the time Dumbledore returned Granger, the youngest Weasley boy and Potter were all in the medical wing. Professor Trigg wasn't possessed by a dead man, despite what Dumbledore thought. He had only gone after the stone because he believed Dumbledore's lies and thought he could get rich quick. And Dumbledore couldn't even hide the event. The aurors called by Desiree arrived and with them was Madame Bones. She spent the next hour yelling at Dumbledore about his stupidity, a situation that would end up in the papers the next day.

When the story came out there was outrage. People were sending howlers to Dumbledore for his irresponsible actions. He was so busy fielding the howlers that he didn't have time to deal with the complaints of the annoying trio who had detention. They had all been punished for entering a restricted area and being out after curfew. The Potters tried to get Jamie out of it, but they wouldn't be heard.

At the leaving feast Slytherin won the house cup. They had been in a tie with Ravenclaw for it, but Cosette getting an adult to stop the annoying trio and warn of the dangers got Slytherin an extra twenty points. And Dumbledore couldn't even dispute it, not only because the board wouldn't allow it, but because professor Lupin had been the one to give the points. James and Sirius Potter were particularly upset with their friend. Not that Gryffindor could win the cup that year. Between Jamie and Ron being bullies and Hermione getting in constant trouble for her lecturing and violent behavior (often hitting, pushing or pulling the hair of students who disagreed with her), the Gryffindors had lost a lot of points.

Overall it had been a good year and Cosette was pleased to be going home.


	21. Second Year - How was Lockhart Hired?

Molly Weasley had spent the entire summer complaining about how her baby boy had to serve detention. It drove her older children mad, driving Percy and the twins to stay out of the house as much as they could. Percy decided to take on a summer job at the ministry of magic, acting as a part time assistant in the accounting department. The twins followed their friend Lee Jordan to the creature sanctuary in Occasion Alley where his father worked and the three of them assisted him (doing tasks not requiring magic) as paid assistants.

“I want an owl.” Ginny Weasley said.

“We can't afford it.” Arthur told his daughter.

“I want an owl.” Ginny repeated.

“Me too!” Ron added.

They had been going on for an hour. Molly had promised her babies everything they wanted, forgetting that they didn't have that much money. Arthur wasn't sure why Molly was spoiling the two youngest so much. He remembered the battle of the uniforms. Ron and Ginny both wanted brand new uniforms just like Fred and George. The problem was, Muriel had payed for them. In fact, Muriel had saved them money by paying for her heirs supplies. Molly was very upset when Muriel refused to pay for Ron and Ginny's things. Muriel had refused, stating she would only pay for her heirs as she shared custody of them.

“Now Arthur, we really should get them owls.”

“And where will we get the money?” Arthur asked his wife.

She had no answer. Molly refused to work. It had been understandable before. They had children at home and someone needed to care for them. But, now that Ginny was going to school, there wouldn't be any children in the house.

“I want an owl.” Ginny whined.

Arthur just knew shopping would be difficult.

When it was time to go shopping, Muriel joined the Weasley family. She was going to take Fred and George on their shopping trip, taking them to Essenti Alley for their books and Horizont Alley for their other supplies. Percy asked to join, bringing his own money for shopping. Muriel was perfectly fine taking him as well. She had tried to get Molly and Arthur to take their children to the other allies, but Molly refused. She believed Diagon Alley to be the best.

Severus and Desiree were shopping in Horizont Alley when they spotted Muriel Prewett. Muriel spotted them as well. The two families met up in front of the apothecary.

“Lady Prewett, its a pleasure to see you.” Severus said.

“As it is to see you lord and lady Prince.”

Cosette stepped to the side with Percy and the twins.

“Did you see the book list?” Cosette asked.

She remembered looking at it. An entire series of books had been made necessary by the new DADA professor.

“Its horrible.” Percy said.

He was lucky not to be learning under the new DADA professor. Professor Lupin handled the first, sixth and seventh year classes. But, Percy had seen the twins list and thought the new professor was mad.

“It gets worse.” Cosette said. “I tried reading one of those books. There were five pages about hair care.”

“Because you don't -” Fred said.

“- care about hair care.” George said.

“I'm a veela.” Cosette said. “My hair is important culturally. Besides, there was hardly anything about DADA. Most of it was talking about scenery and Lockhart's favorite color.”

Percy shuddered.

“It can't be that bad.” Fred said.

But the look on Cosette's face said it was. George pretended to faint, falling into Fred's arms at the horror that was Lockhart's books. As the adults finished talking, the two groups split. Everyone was wondering what the new DADA professor was thinking.

They got their answer on September first. During his opening speech Dumbledore introduced professor Lockhart as the new DADA professor.

The next day staff and students opened the daily prophet to find a picture of Lockhart and Jamie Potter on the front page. It seemed the Potters attended Lockhart's book signing and had gotten free books for Jamie. All three Potters at the head table looked particularly smug seeing Jamie on the cover. And the Gryffindors looked particularly annoyed as Jamie Potter bragged about his appearance on the front page. Only Granger, Ron Weasley and Weasley's sister seemed to care.

But, the worst was to come. Sitting in their first DADA class, Cosette and Draco stared down at the test Lockhart had handed out. The first question was: What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? And every question after that was all about Lockhart. Cosette didn't like it. She didn't like it in the slightest. She looked around and saw a few girls happily doing the test, pleased with having a handsome hero for a teacher. Cosette wasn't so impressed. Perhaps it was her veela side making her immune to his charms, but this was ridiculous. And her father agreed.

Cosette handed her father the test the second classes had ended. Her parents both looked at the test, unable to believe this was from a DADA course.

“Does he think he's running a fashion club?” Severus asked.

“More like his own fan club.” Desiree said.

Cosette certainly wasn't staying in his class. Thankfully, the board had returned the self study option to Hogwarts. Students had every right to self study courses if they could keep up at least a low EE average. Cosette was quick to change to self study. And she wasn't the only one. Many students dropped Lockhart's classes, causing Granger to yell at everyone for skipping. She found herself the target of pranks. The Weasley twins ended up turning her yellow, though they couldn't get the neon color they were hoping for (wanting to replicate what Severus did with his potions trial for the philosopher's stone). It became a topic at the next board meeting.

Dumbledore had to think quickly. Dearborn's last grandchild had graduated last year and he needed a new informant on the board. He quickly replaced him with Molly Weasley.

“Dumbledore, would you explain to us why so many students have chosen to self study DADA this year?” Lady Alice Longbottom asked.

“I'm sure its just a slight misunderstanding. The DADA professors are doing well.”

“That's it.” one of the Ravenclaw members said. “Get rid of Lockhart.”

“Nonsense.” Molly said. “He's a hero. Our children can learn so much from him.”

“Did you even read the books he requested parents to buy? Not only were they absurdly expensive, but there's hardly anything about DADA written in them. And what about the tests he's been giving out?”

The tests were brought out. No one was impressed with the questions.

“I'm sure Lockhart is doing fine. Besides, he has a teaching contract for one year and -”

“If he doesn't shape up, he's gone.” Alice said.

In the end most students were taken out of Lockhart's class. If they didn't go to self study on their own, their parents would force it. Dumbledore protected Lockhart's position all year. And he'd come to regret it as any students who stayed with Lockhart failed their DADA exam. It was instant termination for Lockhart and howlers for Dumbledore who insisted he could do his job.

Hermione Granger spent the leaving feast screaming about how unfair it was. She was one of the students who failed and was now being forced to take a summer course or be held back. Jamie Potter wasn't pleased either. James started complaining about how his son was being discriminated against. For what? No one knew. But, Jamie was also forced into a summer course. Dumbledore refused to have the boy-who-lived held back because of a poor teacher. As for Ron, his mum was all for Lockhart until she saw his DADA grade. The boy had failed miserably and suddenly Lockhart needed to go. Dumbledore wondered just what he'd done wrong.


End file.
